Cranial Morphometry of Pacific Coast Elk (Cervus elaphus)

Abstract

Geographic variation of 16 cranial measurements for 95 specimens was compared with subspecific taxonomy for populations of Pacific Coast elk, Cervus elaphus roosevelti and C. e. nannodes . Principal Component Analysis showed that Roosevelt elk in northern California differed as much from those in Washington as they did from Tule elk in California. A population of C. e. roosevelti on Vancouver Island also showed marked differences from populations on the mainland. Most of the differences are size- rather than shape-related. A Multivariate Analysis of Variance tested significantly for differences between sexes, OTUs, and cross interactions. The four OTUs from southern and central California, northern California, Washington, and Vancouver Island were almost equidistant in the Discriminant Analysis with 96% of females and 91% of males classified successfully. Implications for systematics and biogeography and their bearing on the conservation of Pacific Coast Cervus elaphus are discussed.