Discrimination of the Sister Hedgehog Species Erinaceus Concolor and E. Roumanicus (Erinaceomorpha: Mammalia): A Geometric Morphometric Approach

Abstract

This study investigates skull variation between the two closely related hedgehog species, Erinaceus concolor and E. roumanicus by using geometric morphometric analyses based on 2-dimensional landmarks. For this purpose, a total of 68 specimens were evaluated: 54 E. concolor and 14 E. roumanicus. The results of PCA, ANOVA and MANOVA analyses showed significant shape differences between the species, especially for the dorsal cranium. Shape differences were most prominent on the neurocranium and viscerocranium regions of the dorsal surface of the cranium and in mandibular ramus and the premolar regions. DFA tests were statistically significant against the null hypothesis of equal species means and crossvalidation scores were high enough to distinguish the species. Regression analyses also showed highly significant allometric differences between the two species, for both crania and mandibles. Finally, this study indicates that E. roumanicus is not only present in the European part of Turkey, but also in northwestern Anatolia.