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Vol. 42 No. 2, 2003
Morphological Comparison of Ryukyu Mouse Mus caroli (Rodentia: Muridae) Populations from Okinawajima and Taiwan
Masaharu Motokawa1,*, Liang-Kong Lin2 and Junko Motokawa3
1The Kyoto University Museum, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
2Laboratory of Wildlife Ecology, Department of Biology, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan 407
3Department of Zoology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
Masaharu Motokawa, Liang-Kong Lin and Junko Motokawa (2003) We
performed univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses of 4
external and 17 cranial morphometric characters in the Ryukyu mouse, Mus caroli
Bonhote, 1902 (Mammalia: Rodentia: Muridae), using 177 specimens
collected from Okinawajima in the central Ryukyus and from Taiwan.
There were clear morphological differences between populations from
Okinawajima and Taiwan. The univariate and bivariate analyses indicated
that the Okinawajima population differs from the Taiwan population by a
shorter tail, smaller ear and auditory bulla, less robust incisors,
larger molar row, narrower cranium in the orbital region, and longer
postpalatal region. Principal component and canonical discriminant
analyses based on cranial variables also suggested morphological
divergence between the 2 populations.
Key words: Mus caroli, M. formosanus, Taxonomy, Morphometric analyses, Allometry.
*Correspondence: Tel: 81-75-7533287. Fax: 81-75-7533276. E-mail: motokawa@inet.museum.kyoto-u.ac.jp
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