Small size in the common bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus in the eastern Mediterranean: a possible case of Levantine nanism
2011; Inter-Research; Volume: 438; Linguagem: Inglês
10.3354/meps09282
ISSN1616-1599
AutoresY Sharir, D Kerem, Pavel Gol’din, Ehud Spanier,
Tópico(s)Cephalopods and Marine Biology
ResumoMEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 438:241-251 (2011) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09282 Small size in the common bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus in the eastern Mediterranean: a possible case of Levantine nanism Yuli Sharir1,*, Dan Kerem1, Pavel Gol’din2, Ehud Spanier1 1The Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies and the Department of Maritime Civilizations, the Leon H. Charney School for Marine Sciences, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 31905, Israel 2Department of Zoology, V.I. Vernadsky Taurida National University, Simferopol, Crimea 95007, Ukraine *Email: yuliriver@gmail.com ABSTRACT: The phenomenon of Levantine nanism in the Mediterranean Sea has so far been described in invertebrates and fish. We explored the possibility that it would also apply to marine mammals. To that end, we compared total body length (TBL) and skull condylobasal length (CBL) of adult common bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus collected along the Israeli coastline (representing the Levantine subpopulation) to those of specimens collected along the shores of western Mediterranean seas. Significant differences were found between mean (±SD) CBL values of 40 skulls from Israel and a pooled sample of 40 skulls from the Adriatic, Tyrrhenian, Ligurian and Balearic Seas (49.70 ± 1.87 and 52.18 ± 1.47 cm, respectively, p < 0.001). The mean (±SD) TBL of 26 Israeli animals were significantly smaller than those of 28 animals from the Spanish Mediterranean coast and 36 animals from the French Mediterranean coast (272 ± 18.0, 317.3 ± 16.1 and 313.4 ± 14.8 cm, respectively, p < 0.001). The results clearly demonstrate that animals of the Levantine subpopulation are significantly smaller than those residing in the west. A difference of ~16% for TBL between populations fits the range of within-species dwarf morphs in cetaceans and, when translated into volume and mass, also fits the definition of Levantine nanism. KEY WORDS: Dwarfism · Craniometry · Mediterranean Sea · Marine mammals Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Sharir Y, Kerem D, Gol’din P, Spanier E (2011) Small size in the common bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus in the eastern Mediterranean: a possible case of Levantine nanism. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 438:241-251. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09282 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 438. Online publication date: October 05, 2011 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2011 Inter-Research.
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