Abstract
A geometric morphometric analysis of the male and female body shape of two species belonging to the Ixodidae, Hyalomma truncatum (Koch) and H. marginatum rufipes (Koch) was performed. These two species are very similar in adult appearance, and only the well-trained researcher is able to distinguish between them. This analysis compares the body shape of the ticks with each other by collecting 16 landmarks from the males and females and analyzing this with a powerful statistical technique, geometric morphometrics. Relative warp analyses were performed on the data set and the results of the first two relative warps (for each of the male and female data set) plotted against one another. The first two relative warps are indicative of the most variation between structures that are studied. Thin-plate-spline analyses were also performed on the consensus shape of the males and females. Results from thin-plate spline analysis visually provide input regarding landmarks that are responsible for shape similarities and differences. Geometric morphometrics is a powerful tool that can be used successfully to identify phenetic relationships between taxa, and could be an additional tool to be used by tick systematists.
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