A preliminary study on regional variation in skull morphometrics of Vulpes vulpes in Thunder Bay, ON

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify whether morphological differences occur between subsets of Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes L.) from different areas in Thunder Bay district. The goal was to examine the statistical output generated from measurements of Red Fox skulls to determine whether differences in cranial measurement ratios occur over a short distance. The first phase of the research was to complete a literature review to determine significant cranial relationships in mammals. The second phase of this research was the examination of skulls from Thunder Bay using a discriminant function analysis to determine which cranial relationships are significant in describing variation across skulls.