Morphometric Variability of the American Mink (Neogale vison) in Eurasia

Abstract— The article presents a comparative analysis of morphometric parameters of the American mink in Eurasia; correlation and regression analyses of the main morphological parameters allowing us to judge the peculiarities of dimensional variability of the species (body length, weight, condylobasal length of the skull, zygomatic width of the skull) with macroclimatic predictors were carried out. According to the results of the analysis, we can see a stable trend of fluctuating geographical variability of morphological traits of the American mink of Eurasia from the west to the east towards a decrease in the main metric parameters of the mink. According to the results of correlation analysis, the body mass of the Eurasian American mink is significantly correlated with the average annual air temperature and humidity, as well as with the maximum height of snow cover. The chronographic variability of American mink inhabiting extreme conditions of Yakutia for 40–50 years with the tendency of increasing tail length and condylobasal skull length in both sexes is revealed.