Morphometric distances and population structuring in the common shrew Sorex araneus L. (Lipotyphla: Soricidae)

Abstract

The skulls of shrews of genus Sorex from eight samplings from the European part of Russia and two from the vicinity of Novosibirsk were compared. The characteristics were identified using 22 marks on the axial skull. It was found that the centroid size differs significantly in the common and Laxmann’s shrews S. caecutiens and the pygmy shrew S. minutus, while for selected marks, the common and Laxmann’s, as well as pygmy, shrews were significantly different in form, but the differences were very small between Laxmann’s and pygmy shrews. The characteristic features of the biology of the shrews Sorex are discussed, which may contribute to understanding the general laws of the morphological evolution of the genus.