Kieser Julius A, Groeneveld H T
Department of Oral Pathology, Dental School, Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA Institute for Biostatistics, M.R.C., Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA.
Evolution. 1991 Aug;45(5):1175-1183. doi: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1991.tb04384.x.
The magnitudes of dimensional variability and fluctuating asymmetry in dental dimensions are reported for a sample of South African cheetah Acinonyx jubatus. To test the hypothesis that elevated levels of variability and asymmetry are associated with the increased developmental instability reported for this species, our results were contrasted to those for two other felids: Felis lybica and F. caracal. These findings suggest that dental dimensions in cheetahs are not significantly more variable or asymmetric. Hence, it is concluded that the cheetah may not be as developmentally unstable as was previously supposed.
报告了南非猎豹(Acinonyx jubatus)样本牙齿尺寸的维度变异性和波动不对称性的大小。为了检验变异性和不对称性水平升高与该物种发育不稳定性增加相关的假设,我们将结果与另外两种猫科动物:非洲野猫(Felis lybica)和狞猫(F. caracal)的结果进行了对比。这些发现表明,猎豹的牙齿尺寸并没有显著更高的变异性或不对称性。因此,得出的结论是,猎豹的发育不稳定性可能不像之前认为的那么高。