Body Size and Altitude Partitioning of the Hares Lepus Europaeus and L. Corsicanus Living in Sympatry and Allopatry in Italy
2007
Angelici, Francesco Maria | Luiselli, Luca
We present morphological and ecological data on hares of the genus Lepus living on the Italian peninsula and Sicily. During 16 years, we analysed specimens shot by hunters with respect to their habitat choice and distribution. Our morphometric data confirmed the existence of two different but closely related species, i.e. Lepus europaeus present in central and northern Italy and Lepus corsicanus endemic to central and southern Italy and Sicily. The distribution of the two hare species overlaps in a wide area of central Italy, tentatively estimated to be > 200 km. In terms of altitude, L. europaeus and L. corsicanus do not differ significantly when they live in allopatry. However, when they coexist in sympatry, L. corsicanus occurs at altitudes significantly higher than L. europaeus. L. europaeus inhabits significantly higher altitudes when it lives in allopatry than when it lives in sympatry, and L. corsicanus inhabits significantly higher altitudes when it lives in sympatry than when it lives in allopatry.
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