Multivariate Analysis of Mandible in the Ryukyu Wild Pig (Sus scrofa riukiuanus)

Abstract

We measured adult mandibles of Ryukyu wild pig (Sus scrofa riukiuanus) from Tokunoshima Island and compared the osteometrical data with those from six Nansei Islands. The mandibles in Tokunoshima Island were larger than those from Amami-Oshima and Okinawa Islands in some measurements. We concluded that the size cline was not statistically recognized among populations. In the principal component analysis, the size cline was also denied, and the separation could be made among island populations in female. It is suggested that the populations in Tokunoshima and Okinawa Islands may be different from those in Amami-Oshima, Kakeroma, Ishigaki and Iriomote Islands in skull proportion.