A multivariate statistical study of skull measurements of five taxa of gazelles

Abstract

A multivariate analysis using canonical variates and the D2 test show that five taxa of Palaearctic gazelles examined are distinct. Several forms of gazelles of dubious taxonomic position were also compared on the canonical axes, with conclusions not dissimilar to those of recent workers on the Arabian gazelles, viz. that there are three distinct species in the Arabian peninsula; Gazella dorcas saudiya, Gazella gazella arabica and Gazella subgutturosa marica. Gazella dorcas populations in Somalia have a local form in G. dorcas pelzelni distinct in horns but not in skull measurements from Gazella spekei in the nearby highlands.