CRANIAL ALLOMETRY, SEXUAL DIMORPHISM AND AGE STRUCTURE IN SAMPLE OF THE EGYPTIAN WOLF CANISANTHUSLUPASTER

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY, FACULTY OF SCIENCE, AL AZHAR UNIVERSITY, NASR CITY, CAIRO, EGYPT

Abstract

The study investigates the occurrence of age-related allometric changes in a number of cranial and dental measurements of the Egyptian wolf Canis anthus lupaster from different areas of Egypt.The age structure of a sample of 55 specimens of both sexes of C.a. lupaster was investigated using counting dentine layers on longitudinally sanded canine roots.The results showed that most of the wolves were between one and three years of age. The oldest individual was 11 years old. A set of isometric cranial and dental characters that qualify as diagnostic characters for analyzing interaspecific,morphologicaldifferentiationamongpopulations of this and other closely related canids are identified.

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