Hip bone morphometrics of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from Adriatic Sea: Sex determination and postnatal development

Bones are frequently the only cetacean samples available in the wild and may be useful for determination of sex, physical maturity, body length, and body mass. We analyzed the postnatal morphological development and morphometric characteristics of the cleaned and dried, paired hip bone (os coxae) fr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Marine mammal science Vol. 32; no. 3; pp. 945 - 959
Main Authors:	Đuras, Martina, Jagar, Ivona, Gomerčić, Tomislav, Watson, Alastair, Škrtić, Darinka, Galov, Ana
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Beaufort Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-07-2016 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
Subjects:	Adriatic Sea Animal behavior Bones bottlenose dolphin Brackish Dolphins & porpoises hip bone Marine os coxae sexual dimorphism Tursiops truncatus MED, Adriatic Sea
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Bones are frequently the only cetacean samples available in the wild and may be useful for determination of sex, physical maturity, body length, and body mass. We analyzed the postnatal morphological development and morphometric characteristics of the cleaned and dried, paired hip bone (os coxae) from 131 bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, (61 females, 70 males; total body length 117–322 cm) ranging in age from neonates to 28 yr, salvaged from Croatian waters of the eastern Adriatic Sea. Adult dolphins exhibited sexual dimorphism in their hip bone morphology and morphometrics: fully‐formed hip bones from males were significantly longer, heavier, and more robust than those from females. Moreover, the fully formed hip bone from males featured a prominent bony tuberosity protruding dorsolaterally from the caudal half that was significantly wider and higher than in females. Morphometric measurements were used to generate classification functions for reliable sex determination (97%). In addition, hip bone length in both sexes correlated tightly with total body length, allowing one measurement to be calculated from the other. Only a single ossification developed in all hip bones although soft tissue attachments and comparative review suggests homological equivalence with the tripartite terrestrial mammal hip bone.
Bibliography:	ark:/67375/WNG-WZSN2KFM-J istex:7809FDBF4123B66C0BCA06FC52EBC760A5E84A7D Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of Republic Croatia - No. 053-0533406-3640 ArticleID:MMS12305 Gesellschaft zur Rettung der Delphine ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0824-0469 1748-7692
DOI:	10.1111/mms.12305