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Bulut Ş, Karacan GO. Taxonomic status of Dahl’s Jird, Meriones dahli, as inferred from cytochrome b and IRBP gene sequences (Mammalia: Rodentia). ZOOLOGY IN THE MIDDLE EAST 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/09397140.2021.1992835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Şafak Bulut
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Art and Sciences, Hitit University, Çorum, Turkey
| | - Gül Olgun Karacan
- Vocational School of Health Services, Aksaray University, Aksaray, Turkey
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Kryštufek B, Shenbrot G, Klenovšek T, Janžekovič F. Geometric morphometrics of mandibular shape in the dwarf fat-tailed jerboa: relevancy for trinomial taxonomy. Zool J Linn Soc 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
We explore the pattern of spatial variation in mandibular morphology in relation to subspecific taxonomy in the dwarf fat-tailed jerboa, Pygeretmus pumilio. The unguided k-means clustering on mandible shape scores, partitioned populations into two clusters, corresponding to western and eastern populations. These clusters nearly perfectly matched the two subspecies groups (pumilio and potanini groups) recognized in an independent study based on the morphology of the glans penis. The mandible, although under environmental pressure, has retained a sufficient amount of taxonomic information to retrieve grouping closely resembling the one derived from a sexually selective trait. We recommend morphometrics of the mandible as a routine step in addressing variations in mammals at species and subspecies levels. We also stress the advantage of unsupervised k-clustering in testing null expectation in subspecies taxonomies. However, the power of this approach has its limitations and in our analysis, the k-clustering failed to retrieve subspecies in the potanini group.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Georgy Shenbrot
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
| | - Tina Klenovšek
- Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia
| | - Franc Janžekovič
- Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia
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