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https://doi.org/10.48027/hnb.46.052

Craniometrical sexual dimorphism of the grey wolf (Canis lupus, Canidae, Carnivora) in Bulgaria


Katelina Uzunowa https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2807-4813; Blagoy Koychev https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0064-4183; Stanislava Peeva https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8325-0966; Evgeniy Raichev https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7531-7075; Nikolai Spassov https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2891-7457

2 May 2024 · volume 46 · (issue 5) · pp. 127–138 · PDF [full text]

Abstract: Cranial sexual dimorphism in grey wolf (Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758) from Bulgaria has not been studied so far. Skulls from adult individuals from across the country were studied. Thirty-six parameters (35 craniodental measurements and a volumetric one) of each skull were measured. The Bulgarian wolf population exhibits weak craniodental sexual dimorphism, which is male-biased, as is typical in canids with a monogamous social system. However, the sexual dimorphism is more pronounced than in the studied more northern populations.

Keywords: canids, Canis lupus, cranium, male-biased, sexual dimorphism

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Uzunowa K., Koychev B., Peeva S., Raichev E., Spassov N. 2024 Craniometrical sexual dimorphism of the grey wolf (Canis lupus, Canidae, Carnivora) in Bulgaria. Historia naturalis bulgarica 46: 127–138.

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