MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF GERBILLUS ANDERSONI, G. CAMPESTRIS AND G. AMOENUS FROM EGYPT

Despite a significant number of studies on the taxonomy of small mammals, very little of this work has been conducted on species in Egypt. External, cranial and dental morphometric analysis of the closely related Gerbillus andersoni, G. campestris and G. amoenus from different ecogeographical regions of Egypt were studied. Statistical analyses of cranial and dental variability allowed us to discriminate three morphological groups which are congruent with the three clusters suggested by previous morphological studies. Higher similarity is observed between G. andersoni populations in the Sinai and Western Mediterranean Coastal Desert despite the fact that they are separated from each other by about 200 km of the Nile Delta. Cluster and principal component analysis, show higher degree of divergence between the subgenus Dipodillus and the other two subgenera Gerbillus and Hendecapleura. This fact suggests that the morphometric differences observed among species within the genus Gerbillus are not mainly related to its phylogeny