Cranial variability of Centra European beaver populations

Abstract: European beaver population in Central Europe originated from several refugial populations. Although these populations are currently well-researched, but the manifestations that may reflect genetic variability, are not known. In the Czech Republic there are beavers who spread from Saxony, from Magdeburg refugia, and other stocks that are created by beavers from Austria and Bavaria, or are the offspring of individuals coming from refuges in Poland, Russia, Norway and France. There are many indications that individuals from northern Bohemia (Elbe individuals of the population) have a considerable amount of differences. The aim of this study was to determine the exact age of mortalities beaver from the collection of the Department of Ecology FES. The most accurate estimate of the age is the closing of the basal opening of the tooth root and the sum of cement layers molars, but this method is time-consuming and technically challenging and therefore the work of trying to find another reliable criterion to determine the age of mortalities in the form of intervals of specific characteristics for each age class (juvenil, subadult, adult). Using statistical analysis, I conclude that the most cranial size determination for individuals age the length dimension is LCB (condyobasal length of the skull) and LAZ (zygomatic width of the skull). The most appropriate metristic characteristic to estimate the age appeared weight