Hello Julie and other dog/wolf friends,
I would just like to remind you about some papers by Robert K. Wayne that
are of interest in this subject. They are not aimed at defining traits or
size ranges for distinguishing between dogs and wolves, but instead to
describe the developmental differences in wild vs. domestic individuals,
and therefore of general importance.
Wayne, R. K.:
(1986) Cranial morphology of domestic and wild canids: the influence of
development on morphologic change. (Evolution, 40:243-261).
(1986) Limb morphology of domestic and wild canids: the influence of
development on morphologic change. (Journal of Morphology, 187:301-319).
(1986) Developmental constraints on limb growth in domestic and some wild
canids. (Journal of Zoology, 210A:381-399).
These three papers are summarized in:
Wayne, R. K. and Ruff, C. B.:
(1993) Domestication and bone growth. (in Bone (vol.?), Brian Hall (ed.),
pp.105-131).
There is also a metric study on dog and fox metapodials that is useful in
distinguishing foxes from small dogs:
Ratjen, Heinke & Heinrich, Dirk: Vergleichende Untersuchungen an den
Metapodien von Füchsen und Hunden (Schriften aus der Archäologisch-
Zoologischen Arbeitsgruppe Schleswig-Kiel, Heft 4, Kiel 1978).
Leif Jonsson
ANL, Gothenburg University
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