Are There Morphological Differences between Two Genetically Differentiated Clades in the Adder Vipera berus berus?

S. Ursenbacher, I. Sasu, M. Rossi, J.-C. Monney

Abstract


The morphologies of 164 adders (Vipera berus berus) were analyzed in order to assess if morphological differences occur between the Northern and the Italian clades. Pholidosis and some corporal proportions were measured, corresponding to 17 parameters. Several parameters show significant differences between clades (e.g., subcaudals, labials, sublabials, parietal scales). Moreover, discriminant analyses separate both clades with high degrees of accuracy of a correct classifying.

Keywords


Vipera berus; morphology; discriminant analysis

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-2005-12-0-102-104

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