Morphometrics

It is human nature to measure things, and this holds true for science as well as everyday life. The five papers in this book demonstrate the usefulness of a morphometric approach to a variety of subjects in natural history, including systematics, phenotypic plasticity in response to environmental variation, and ontogenetic adaptation. As our understanding of genetic control mechanisms and epigenetics has matured over the last several decades, it has become clear that morphometric assessment continues to be important to our overall understanding of natural variability in growth and form. The tremendous growth of our knowledge base during the last century has necessitated that we find new ways to measure and track greater detail as well as greater numbers of parameters among populations and individuals Applications of morphometrics to hymenoptera, particularly bumble bees (Bombus, Apidae) -- Robin E. Owen The mosquito fauna: from metric disparity to species diversity -- Jean-Pierre Dujardin, P. Thongsripong and Amy B. Henry Reproduction and morphology of the Travancore Tortoise (Indotestudo Trancorica) Boulenger, 1907 -- Nikhil Whitaker Morphometrics and allometry in fishes -- Paraskevi K. Karachle and Konstantinos I. Stergiou Morphometry applied to the study of morphological plasticity during vertebrate development -- Christina Wahl. 00 preface_ Morphometrics......Page 1 01 Applications of Morphometrics to the Hymenoptera, Particularly Bumble Bees (Bombus, Apidae)......Page 13 02 The Mosquito Fauna: From Metric Disparity to Species Diversity......Page 43 03 Reproduction and Morphohlogy of the Travancore Tortoise (Indotestudo travancorica) Boulenger, 1907......Page 59 04 Morphometrics and Allometry in Fishes......Page 77 05 Morphometry Applied to the Study of Morphological Plasticity During Vertebrate Development......Page 99