Abstract

Variation in skin and skeletal measurements of kangaroo rats (genus Dipodomys) was evaluated using 265 specimens from 11 localities in Baja California, Mexico. Cluster analyses were utilized to verify field identification at the two localities where D. gravipes and D. agilis were sympatric and to examine each of the other nine collecting sites for possible sympatric forms. Sexual dimorphism occurred in two external, three skull, and nine postcranial measurements. Males were significantly larger than females in all of these characteristics. Significant interOTU variation occurred in 41 of the 42 characters analyzed. Using correlation analyses the 19 least correlated characters were selected from the original 42. Dipodomys gravipes was readily separable from the other taxa. The data indicate that there are only two species of kangaroo rats ( D. agilis and D. gravipes ) of the heermanni group in Baja California.

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