Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://scidar.kg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/12101
Title: Sexual shape dimorphism in Alpine chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) horns: Using horn curvature in sex identification
Authors: Blagojević, Miloš
Milošević-Zlatanović, Svetlana
Issue Date: 2015
Abstract: © 2015 by De Gruyter 2015. We used horn outlines with elliptic Fourier analysis to quantify horn shape as well as horn outline areas to quantify horn size in 26 Alpine chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) skulls of known sex from Serbia. The aim of this study was to investigate the degree of horn curvature that characterizes each sex and devise a methodology for using horn shape to determine sex. We observed a grouping pattern that exactly corresponded to each sex by analyzing Fourier transformed and normalized outline data with holding sexes unknown by exploratory cluster and discriminant analyses. Curvature was the most important determinant of chamois horn shape, and females were found to have less curved horns than males. Horn size was also a significant factor contributing to sexual dimorphism, whereas allometric scaling was similar in both sexes. We argue that horn growth is characterized by elongation of the horn axis in females and increasing curvature in males, and that these processes are constrained to later years of individual's life when the overall horn size changes very little. Our conclusions fit well with published data on chamois social structure and behavior suggesting that selective pressure acting on horn shape changed with increasing levels of sexual size dimorphism.
URI: https://scidar.kg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/12101
Type: article
DOI: 10.1515/mammalia-2013-0055
ISSN: 0025-1461
SCOPUS: 2-s2.0-84922822003
Appears in Collections:Faculty of Science, Kragujevac

Page views(s)

474

Downloads(s)

10

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
PaperMissing.pdf
  Restricted Access
29.86 kBAdobe PDFThumbnail
View/Open


Items in SCIDAR are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.