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Sand cats, Felis margarita, range from northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula to Central Asia. Their apparently discontinuous distribution is recognized as comprising four subspecies. Recent genetic research found little differentiation between subspecies except for the North African form. In this study, 90 skins and 88 skulls were analyzed from the four subspecies. A discriminant function analysis of the scores, ranging from 1 to 4, of four pelage characteristics revealed differentiation between putative subspecies, except between Turkmenian and Pakistani sand cats. Northern African and Arabian sand cats tend to be spotted and striped, while Turkmenian and Pakistani sand cats are less spotted and have a dorsal crest of fur. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) models generated from 21 skull measurements revealed an overlap in morphospace between all subspecies, except for larger Turkmenian sand cats; northern African sand cats were smallest. Therefore, both pelage characteristics and skull morphometrics support up to three subspecies. However, considering recent genetic research, it is likely that two subspecies should be recognized, F. m. margarita from northern Africa and F. m. thinobia from the Arabian Peninsula, and Southwest and Central Asia. Widening of the dataset and nuclear DNA evidence are required to increase our understanding of geographical variation in this little studied species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mandible size variability including sexual size dimorphism (SSD) of the cave lion (Panthera spelaea) in the Pleistocene of Northern Eurasia time has been studied basing on the univariate and multivariate statistical analyses of 76 specimens from 43 localities. It has been confirmed that SSD in adult P. spelaea, as well as in extant P. leo, is the dominant form of group variability of mandible and, to somewhat lesser extent, of variability of cheek teeth. The lowest degree of SSD has been found in a relatively small Beringian subspecies, P. spelaea vereshchagini. The geographical variability of the cave lion from Western to Eastern Eurasia was not a cline at least in the Late Pleistocene. Our results confirm a decrease in overall mandible size from the Middle Pleistocene to the Late Pleistocene over a large part of the species' range. We speculate that evolutionary changes in mandible size, lower canines or cheek teeth may have proceeded at different rates, allometry and probable heterochrony. Our results have added a new evidence to support the subspecies status of the Beringian lion (P. spelaea vereshchagini), but they are insufficient for other decisions on cave lion taxonomy at the subspecies level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetically verified occurrence points were taken from our data and from publications (Neumann I et al. i [51]; Banaszek I et al. i [8]; Hegyeli I et al. i [32]; Melosik I et al. i [48]; Korbut I et al. i [39]). Later, Korbut I et al. i ([39]) argued this assumption and supposed that "hamsters survived in eastern steppe refugia from which they migrated westward through northern European plains or through the southern route around the Carpathians to Central and Western Europe" (Neumann I et al. i [51]; Banaszek I et al. i [7]). Korbut I et al. i also discussed the potential contraction of the hamster distribution during both Saalian Glacial and Eemian interstadial (Korbut I et al. i [39]). The bins of the scale for MIS7-MIS6 correspond to nomenclature suggested by Railsback I et al. i ([59]), MIS5 by Shackleton I et al. i ([67]), and Otvos ([53]) and MIS4 by Scrucca I et al. i ([66]). Moreover, the common hamster started to rapidly colonize some cities in Western Europe (Schmelzer & Millesi [65]; Feoktistova I et al. i [25]; Flamand I et al. i [27]), in Eastern Europe (Canády [13]; Feoktistova I et al. i [24]; Buczek [12]), and Kazakhstan (Feoktistova I et al. i [20]). [Extracted from the article]