Age related cranial characters from the viewpoint of species identification of Amur and Daurian hedgehogs (Lipotyphla: Erinaceidae)
Voyta L.L.
P. 176-184
The current paper represents a summary of age determination attempts in two species of East-Asian hedgehogs — Erinaceus amurensis Schrenk, 1859, and Mesechinus dauuricus (Sundevall, 1842) from Russian (Moscow, Saint Petersburg) and Chinese (Beijing) Museum Collections. The analysed specimens comprise 99 skulls, of which 46 skulls are from Amur hedgehogs, and 53 belonged to Daurian hedgehogs. Our results represent the four relative age stages with detailed descriptions and figures from the viewpoint of an interspecies comparison. We revealed that the size and additive characters of suprameatal fossa are undoubtedly very useful for the identification of adult specimens of both species, but are useless for young specimens due to the similarity of the initial stages of development of the ear region. In addition, the relative height of the frontal and parietal bones (= development of the sagittal ridge and temporal line) cannot be used to correctly compare subadult and adult Amur hedgehogs with adult and senile Daurian hedgehogs, because the latter species acquires a similarity in the skull profile with the former during maturity. The third considered age-related character is fusion of the lacrimal/maxilla suture, which shows some degree of variation in E. amurensis. Thus, all of the characteristics that are generally used for the comparison and identification of East-Asian hedgehogs, beginning with E. amurensis vs. M. dauuricus, require a prior description of their interspecific variability in order to be useful for species identification.
DOI: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.16.2.06References- Corbet G.B. 1988. The family Erinaceidae; a synthesis of its taxonomy, phylogeny, ecology and zoogeography // Mammal Review. Vol.18. P.117–172.
- Frost D.R., Wozencraft W.C. & Hoffmann R.S. 1991. Phylogenetic relationships of hedgehogs and gymnures (Mammalia: Insectivora; Erinaceidae) // Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology. Vol.518. P.1–69.
- Gould G.C. 1995. Hedgehog phylogeny (Mammalia, Erinaceidae) – the reciprocal illumination of the quick and the dead // American Museum Novitates. No.3131. P.1–45.
- Gould G.C. 2001. The phylogenetic resolving power of discrete dental morphology among extant hedgehogs and the implications for their fossil record // American Museum Novitates. No.3340. P.1–52.
- Hutterer R. 2005. Order Erinaceomorpha // Wilson D.E. & Reeder D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Vol.1. P.212–219.
- Klevesal G.A. 2007. [Principles and Methods of Age Determination of Mammals]. Moscow: KMK Scientific Press. 283 p. [In Russian]
- MacPhee R.D.E., Novacek M.J. & Storch G. 1988. Basicranial morphology of Early Tertiary erinaceomorps and the origin of primates // American Museum Novitates. No.2921. P.1–42.
- Matschie P. 1908. Über chinesische Säugetiere, besonders aus den Sammlungen des Herrn Wilhelm Filchner // Filchner W. (Hrsg.). Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Expedition Filchner nach China und Tibet (1903–1905): Zoologische Sammlungen. Botanische Sammlungen. Berlin: Ernst Siegfried Mittler und Sohn. Bd.10. S.134–244.
- Mori T. 1922. On two forms of the Korean hedgehog // The Annals and Magazine of Natural History. Ser.9. Vol.10. P.614–616.
- Morris P.A. 1970. A method for determining absolute age in the hedgehog // Jounal of Zoology. Vol.161. P.277–281.
- Morris P.A. 1971. Epiphyseal fusion in the forefoot as a means of age determination in the hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) // Notes from the Mammal Society. Vol.22. P.254–259.
- Reeve N. 1994. Hedgehogs. London: T & AD Poyser (Natural History). 313 p.
- Scott B. & Smith V. 2014. Dataset title data.nhm.uk http:// dx.doi.org/10.5072/1 (accessed 20 September 2017)
- Thomas O. 1908. The Duke of Bedford’s zoological explorations in Eastern Asia, XI: On mammals from the province of Shan-si and Shen-si, Northern China // Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. Vol.3. P.963–983.
- Zaitsev M.V., Voyta L.L. & Sheftel B.I. 2014. [The Mammals of Russia and Adjacent Territories: Lipotyphlans]. St. Petersburg: Izdatel’stvo Nauka. Vol.178. 391 p. [In Russian]
Download PDF
|
