Skull variation in Dinaric–Balkan and Carpathian gray wolf populations revealed by geometric morphometric approaches

Abstract

Abstract Dinaric–Balkan and Carpathian gray wolf (Canis lupus L., 1758) populations, although geographically separated, occupy closely situated areas in the territory of Serbia. We studied morphological variation in the skull to investigate whether the two populations are distinguishable despite the animals being very large and highly mobile and seeming to form one continuous population. The size and shape of the mandible and cranium in the lateral view were compared between sexes and populations using landmark-based geometric morphometrics. Significant differences between sexes and populations were found for size and shape of both structures. Males were larger than females in both populations, and Carpathian were larger than Dinaric–Balkan wolves. Principal component analysis revealed the cranium to be a highly discriminative skull structure. Zygomatic arches were located anteriorly in males and posteriorly in females. Dinaric–Balkan wolves had a more elevated snout and sagittal crest than Carpathian wol...