Perspectives on individual variation in mammals

Abstract

Understanding genetic and phenotypic variation within species is fundamentally important for elucidating evolutionary processes and for taking effective action to conserve these species, yet too often mammalogists give only cursory attention to individual variation. The purposes of this special feature are to introduce some of the key statistical and experimental methods for studying individual variation, to provide a sampling of mammalian studies that illustrate the importance of such variation, and to encourage mammalogists to take a fresh look at their favorite problems and species with individual variation in mind.