Acta Musei Moraviae

Morphometric analysis of fox populations from the Moravian Last Glacial

The contribution deals with the morphometrics of cranial and postcranial skeleton of the fossil populations of foxes (Vulpes vulpes and Alopex lagopus) from the Late Palaeolithic Gravettian and Magdalenian sites in Moravia, Czech Republic. Differences in morphometry between the recent and fossil red fox and arctic fox are discussed and results are confronted with foreign studies. Differences in osteometry of foxes are especially typical for the recent cranial skeleton and these variations are supported by their morphological comparison. Measurements of cranial skeleton are strongly restricted in fossil material because of the state of preservation; however, the detailed osteometry of selected elements of postcranial skeleton enables distinction of Vulpes vulpes from Alopex lagopus. Although there is overlapping in variation spread in the recent and fossil postcranial skeleton, the mean values are significantly different.

Osteometrical analysis shows that arctic foxes from Moravian Late Palaeolithic sites were somewhat larger than the recent Alopex lagopus. It seems probable that Last Glacial Central European populations of arctic fox did not migrate to the north but they became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene.