Biology_of_Mustelids_Vol_1.pdf

33.
ermine as an example supporting "Bergmann's Rule".
A criticism of "Bergmann's Rule", and an analysis of its
application to honiothermic animals, was presented in the work of
Terent'ev(16).
However, in later summaries of the ecology of animals(9)
critical evaluation of this "rule" is ignored, and, as before, the ermine
is used as a representative of the mammals in which the pattern of intraspecific
variation in body size may be understood in terms of "Bergmann's
Rule".
These fscts caused us to re-examine the pattern of intraspecific
variation in body size of the ermine from various regions in the USSR and
to determine to what degree "Bergmann's Rule" is applicable to this pattern.
Altogether, more than 250 individuals were studied (mainly from the stock
of the Institute of Zoology, Academy of Sciences of the USSR).
As the animals at our disposal were from distinct geographical
regions, it was possible to separate all the data into twelve groups,
arranged from west to east in two separate series.
The northern series
represented Central Russian, Tobol'skii, Turukhanskii, Kolymskii,
Karaginskii, and Kamchatskii ermine:
the Southern series, Ferganskii,
Semirechenskii, Altaiskii, Mongolian, Zabaikal'skii, and Shantarskii
ermine.
According to theor geographical distribution, these groups
correspond to subspecies of ermine described in the works of Qgnev(10)
and Yurgenson(19).
By comparing the mean body lengths of the ermine from different
regions, it is possible to establish a definite pattern in the variation in
J
size, between different groups of one series and also between adjacent
groups of the northern and southern series (Table 2).