Fig 5 - uploaded by Connor James Burgin
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Ridgeline plots showing distributions of 3 external body measurements in lineages of small-eared Urocitellus. Representatives of the brunneus and endemicus lineages were pooled here due to low sample sizes. U. mollis artemesiae and U. m. idahoensis represent a single clade (e.g., Fig. 2) but are plotted separately here.
Source publication
The “small-eared” species group of Urocitellus ground squirrels (Sciuridae: Xerinae: Marmotini) is endemic to the Great Basin, United States, and surrounding cold desert ecosystems. Most specific and subspecific lineages in this group occupy narrow geographic ranges, and some are of significant conservation concern; despite this, current taxonomy r...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... body proportions did not clearly separate lineages of small-eared Urocitellus. Substantial overlap was observed in standard measures of TL, HBL, TV, and HF. Outside of U. mollis, the U. brunneus lineage presented the greatest and most distinctive values for these measurements (Fig. 5), a finding similar to the cranial shape data (Fig. 3). Interestingly, the magnitude of variation observed across 3 lineages of U. mollis was comparable to that seen across the entire small-eared group (Fig. 5). The U. m. idahoensis lineage had the greatest mean HBL, TV, and HF, while the U. m. artemesiae lineage had the smallest ...
Context 2
... HBL, TV, and HF. Outside of U. mollis, the U. brunneus lineage presented the greatest and most distinctive values for these measurements (Fig. 5), a finding similar to the cranial shape data (Fig. 3). Interestingly, the magnitude of variation observed across 3 lineages of U. mollis was comparable to that seen across the entire small-eared group (Fig. 5). The U. m. idahoensis lineage had the greatest mean HBL, TV, and HF, while the U. m. artemesiae lineage had the smallest averages for all measurements. Urocitellus m. mollis was typically intermediate for these same ...
Context 3
... external morphology, we observed a high degree of conservatism in the group. Even though some statistical differences exist among small-eared species, most of them overlap substantially in measurements of HBL, TV, and HF (Fig. 5). External morphology does support recognition of the 2 existing forms within northern U. mollis (subspecies idahoensis and artemesiae), with idahoensis being larger in each external metric. However, southern U. mollis displays intermediate values between U. m. idahoensis and U. m. artemesiae for all metrics. External morphological ...
