FACTORS OF POLYMORPHISM OF CRANIOMETRIC CHARACTERS IN THE RED FOX (VULPES VULPES, CARNIVORA, CANIDAE) FROM THE CENTER OF EUROPEAN RUSSIA

摘要

Craniometry was investigated in four samples of the Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes L. 1758) (n = 403) from the Tver Region. Factors affecting the metric polymorphism of the fox skull can be presented in the following order according to their significance: age, sex, geographic and chronographic variability. Geographic and chronographic factors are correlated with jaws and teeth. An analysis of the time interval from the early 1990's to the present shows a weak trend in increasing certain cranial structures. However, the inclusion of material from the 1980's reveals a more complex trend in chronographic variability with dimensional fluctuations. This may be due to the high rate of mortality which determines the stochastic character of chronographic dimensional variability. Spatial variability of odontological and craniometric features can be of adaptive functional significance.