Biometric analyses of the genus Meriones Illiger 1811 (Mammalia: Rodentia) species distributed in Turkey

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In this study, 181 samples of the five species of Meriones crassus , M. persicus , M. tristrami , M. vinogradovi and M. dahli distributed in Turkey were compared in terms of biometric characteristics. In principle component analyses (PCA), four components were explained 78.4% of total variance. Twenty-three characters, including total body length and most of the skull characters to the first component and three characters that are all related to tympanic bulla to the second were found to be discriminative (0.7 and higher values). According to UPGMA tree, M. persicus from Parameriones subgenus morphometrically separated from other four species. M. tristrami and M. vinogradovi placed in the close cluster, M. dahli and M. crassus from the subgenus Pallosiomys connected to the previous cluster as a separate group. Discriminant function analyses (DFA) were also consistent with UPGMA tree.