Revision of rupicapra genus. I. a statistical re-evaluation of couturier’s data on the morphometry of six chamois subspecies

Abstract

Measurements of skull and horns in six subspecies of Rupicapra rupicapra L. (pyreuaica, or- uata, cartusiana, balcanica, carpatica, caucasica) have been evaluated statistically. R. r. pyreuaica and ornata have the smallest skulls, the closest horn bases, and obliterated frontomaxillary fontanelles. They have also similarly patterned winter coats. On the basis of such features pyre- naica and ornata are separate from the other subspecies which do not seem to differentiate much from each other. On the other hand, pyre- ttaica has a much smaller body size than ornata as well as the shortest and thinnest horns, whereas ornata has the longest and stoutest horns of all the subspecies examined. Furthermore, the ornata's frontomaxillary fontanelle is much longer than pyrenaica’s. R. r. cartusiana has several features intermediate between the pyrenaica-ornata group and the other subspecies. On the basis of some palaeontologic evidence we advance the hypothesis that the chamois living on the Riss glaciation belonged to the pyrenaica-ornata type. During the Würm, the Rissian chamois may have come into contact with an eastern population of chamois belonging to the “Alpine” type which had developed features of its own during the Eem interglacial. Such a Würmian population could have absorbed the remaining Rissian chamois, but it could have failed to reach the Central Apennines (Abruzzo). © 1980 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.