Abstract
Analysis of craniometric structure based on four skull measurements has been performed in 37 Martes martes populations to assess their size distribution within the species range. The results show that groups of martens with the smallest skull size live in the northeastern part of European Russia (the Sukhona, Vyatka, Kama, Sylva, and Chusovaya river basins; 48°–58°N, 55°–62° E). The condylobasal length (CL) in males reaches a maximum in southern Sweden and on Menorca Island, with its sample mean value ranging from 80.42 to 88.00 mm; in females, in northern Sweden and Belgium (73.58–80.10 mm). Skull size shows a strong, statistically significant negative correlation with longitude. The correlation of CL with latitude is weaker but also negative and statistically significant, which is not consistent with Bergmann’s rule. An inverse trend is observed in the eastern part of the range, where the size of martens is relatively large. In general, variation in size has a polyclinal pattern. The recent size distribution of М. martes over the range probably reflects the course of initial expansion over Europe of the ancestral species, Miocene Martes laevidens, which had a small body size. These results agree with the hypothesis that the ancestors of M. martes had originated in Eastern Europe and then expanded to the west, northwest, and east.
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