Morphometric Measurements of Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in Somogy County, Hungary

Csányi, Erika and Sándor, Bence and Sándor, Gyula (2023) Morphometric Measurements of Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in Somogy County, Hungary. MAGYAR APRÓVAD KÖZLEMÉNYEK, 15. pp. 11-21. ISSN 1418-284X

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Abstract

The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) has the widest natural distribution of any terrestrial carnivore. Sexual dimorphism in this species is well known and is frequently observed in body and skull measurements. Morphological analysis is essential because the skull and body morphologies reflect many population/individual characteristics, genetic distances, environmental effects, and growth-affecting factors. Our study presents the first comprehensive analysis of red fox body and skull morphometry in Hungary. We performed morphometric measurements on 200 red foxes at two developmental stages, juvenile and adult, of different sexes, male and female, from Somogy County, Hungary, between January 2021 and January 2022. Statistical tests showed significant differences in all seven body measurements (body weight, total body length, tail length, head length, wither height, hind leg (left) length, and neck circumference of adult red foxes between the sexes, being significantly lower in the case of females than males. Significant differences were also found between the sexes in adult red fox skull measurements (total skull length, zygomatic width, and mandible length). In the case of juvenile red foxes, not all body dimensions differed significantly between the sexes (body weight, head length, and neck circumference did not differ significantly). We also found significant differences between the sexes in skull dimensions, except for zygomatic width. Regarding significant differences, the values for females were lower than those for males. Concerning the red foxes in Hungary, we found evidence of sexual dimorphism in all body and skull measurements in adult red foxes, which were larger in males, but not in all of the dimensions in juveniles.

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