Craniometric differentiation of the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas 1778) across different habitats in Serbia

Svetlana Milošević-Zlatanović,Marija Jovanović

doi:10.5937/kgjsci1941147m

Abstract

The European brown hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778) is very important game species distributed across Europe. We tested the hypothesis that the populations of the European brown hare from five localities in Serbia differ significantly in size and shape of the cranium. Craniometric analysis based on 21 craniometric measurements was performed on the 71 skulls and mandibles from five localities: Čelarevo (18 individuals, intermediate habitats), Novi Sad (6 individuals, оpen habitats), Ada (6 individuals, оpen habitats), Stragari (21 individuals, closed habitats) and Knić (20 individuals, closed habitats). Analysis of variance, principal component analysis and canonical discriminant analysis were used to analyze craniometic measurements. We expected different levels of cranial variability in closed habitats which are characterized by stable and predictable (more homogenous) environments, intermediate habitats, and in open habitats which are characterized by unstable, fluctuating (more heterogeneous) environments. The results showed partial grouping of populations in accordance with the habitat type (open, closed and intermediate). Both populations from closed habitats (Stragari and Knić) had smaller skulls. However, when observing intermediate and open habitats, lesser differences existed, especially between individuals from Čelarevo (intermediate habitat) and Novi Sad (open habitat). The observed differences are probably the result of adaptations to diverse environmental conditions at different habitat types. These preliminary results suggest that differentiation of populations in accordance with habitat type does exist in European brown hare, and further analyses on greater sample size and number of populations are needed to understand the influence of habitat conditions on cranial variability of this species.

Highlights

The European brown hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778) is very important game species distributed across Europe
The only taxonomic revision of the European brown hare populations from Serbia was done by MARTINO (1935) who suggested that populations from Romania to Peloponnese belong to the subspecies Lepus europaeus transsylvanicus Matschie, 1901
Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the first two principal components accounted for 50.46% of variation (PC-I: 39.78%; PC-II: 10.68%)

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The European brown hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778) is very important game species distributed across Europe. It inhabits both lowland and upland areas, especially regions with intense agricultural activities (THOMPSON, 2010). Declining population numbers and the lack of information on their taxonomic status make the European brown hare the priority species for investigation and conservation. Bearing in mind the impact of habitat change on the decline of population size of the European brown hare, we explored the impact of different habitat types on cranial variability. We tested the hypothesis that the populations of the European brown hare from five localities in Serbia differ significantly in size and shape of the cranium. We expected different levels of cranial variability in closed habitats which are characterized by stable and predictable (more homogenous) environments, intermediate habitats, and in open habitats which are characterized by unstable, fluctuating (more heterogeneous) environments, especially in terms of food and shelter availability and higher predation stress

MATERIALS AND METHODS

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

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