Female (based on 5 adults): See measurements and plates 11-13. As
described in _Mustela erminea richardsonii_ except that: Weight
0.9 (0.77-1.06) grams; basilar length, 31.5 (30.9-31.8) grams;
length of tooth-rows more or less than (approximately same as)
length of tympanic bulla; breadth of rostrum more than 30 per cent
of basilar length.
The sexual dimorphism in the skull is slight, the skull of the male
being only a third heavier than that of the female. In _fallenda_ of
the adjacent mainland to the east the male is three-fourths heavier
than the female. In comparison with _fallenda_, males are smaller,
averaging less in every cranial and dental measurement taken and by
weight are a fifth lighter; sagittal crest absent rather than present;
tympanic bullae flush with squamosal rather than projecting below floor
of braincase; in relation to basilar length, tympanic bullae smaller,
braincase deeper and broader, skull wider interorbitally and across
zygomata. Females are larger than in _fallenda_, and with one exception
average larger in every cranial and dental measurement taken, being 6
per cent heavier. The one exception mentioned is the lesser actual
length of the tympanic bulla in _anguinae_, in which the length of the
tooth-rows is about the same as, rather than less than, the length of
the tympanic bulla. The postorbital breadth is greater than in
_fallenda_ and the anterior edges of the tympanic bullae are flush with
the squamosals rather than projecting below the floor of braincase. In
relation to the skull as a whole the preorbital and interorbital parts
are larger.
In comparison with _streatori_, skulls of males are of about the same
size, _anguinae_ being only 9 per cent heavier. The length of the
tooth-rows is ordinarily less than, rather than about equal to, the
length of the tympanic bulla; sagittal crest wanting rather than
present since in _anguinae_ the temporal muscles meet usually only at
the posterior end of the braincase instead of all along the midline on
its top; tympanic bullae narrower and more nearly flush with squamosal
(less protruded from braincase). Relative to the basilar length, the
zygomatic breadth is more, the tympanic bullae are narrower, and the
braincase is deeper at the anterior end of the basioccipital. The
female is 41 per cent heavier than _streatori_, there being no overlap
in most cranial and dental measurements. M1, however, is approximately
the same size in each subspecies. The tooth-rows and tympanic bulla are
of almost equal length whereas in _streatori_ the length of the
tooth-rows is less than that of the bulla.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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