Variability of Skull Morphometric Characters in Apodemus Agrarius (Mammalia, Rodentia): A Sexual Dimorphism Analysis

ABSTRACT

A total of 88 Apodemus agrarius skulls from an unpolluted, natural area in Serbia and Montenegro was studied to evaluate whether sexual dimorphism exist in Apodemus agrarius or not for the 8 cranial characters. In the present study, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to detect variation between sexes for each variable (character). Additionally, as an exploratory technique, the principal component analysis (PCA) was performed. Results presented here showed that sexual dimorphism (despite of marginal significance) in A. agrarius actually exist for length of the diastema upper jaw.