Are subspecies (of Eira barbara) real?

SCHIAFFINI, MAURO IGNACIO

JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY

ALLIANCE COMMUNICATIONS GROUP DIVISION ALLEN PRESS

Año: 2020 vol. 101 p. 1410 - 1425

0022-2372

The subspecies concept is one of the most controversial in Linnean taxonomy. In the past, subspecies weredescribed without a clear conceptual framework, triggering confusion and motivating criticism of the veryconcept of a subspecies. At present, subspecies are conceived as aggregates of populations that are geographicallyisolated, are composed of interfertile individuals, and are morphologically diagnosable. The tayra, Eira barbara,was described in 1758 and has had a stable taxonomic history at the species level. However, below the specieslevel, 16 subspecies have been named, with from two to seven subspecies recognized as valid by different authors.None of the subspecies were, however, described within a clear conceptual framework. Using the modern conceptof a subspecies, I analyzed subspecies of E. barbara recognized by recent authors. I gathered morphometricdata from 155 specimens in mammal collections, georeferenced each specimen, and recorded membershipto subspecies assigned by different references and by its location. I gathered climate and geographic data foreach location. I analyzed data using Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and analysis of variance (ANOVA).Specimens exhibited sexual dimorphism in size but not in skull shape. I used regression analysis to test forassociations between skull shape and size and climate data. Geographic analyses documented that subspeciesare not allopatric, violating one of the main properties of the subspecies concept. ANOVA showed significantdifferences in skull morphology between some pairs of recognized subspecies but not others. However, none of thesubspecies segregated in the PCA. Thus, the recognized subspecies could not be diagnosed from morphologicaldata, violating another property of the subspecies concept. Size varied greatly between the sexes using differentschemes for recognized subspecies. Climate variables explained between 4% and 6% of size variation for malesand females. Skull shape proved not to be geographically variable