Multivariate Analysis of Cranial Measurements of Cameroon’s Blue Duiker (Cephalophus monticola)

Abstract

The blue duiker (Cephalophus monticola) is exclusively an African wild Bovidae. It is a principal source of protein in the African forest zones and contributes to the nutrition of local populations. The methodology used is the opportunistic method which consists of taking the heads of blue duikers from carcasses encountered randomly and opportunistically in villages, urban markets, and checkpoints. Thus, 60 skulls were collected and measured from January to December 2018. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis were done using SPSS version 21.0 software and XLSTAT-Pro version 7.5.2 software. The measures of the skulls (60 in total and in mm) point out that: the total length (117.36 ± 3.51; 118.23 ± 4.38 and 118.47 ± 4.09), the length of row of cheek teeth (35.35 ± 2.88; 36.39 ± 3.82 and 36.28 ± 3.67) the zygomatic arc height (10.40 ± 1.50; 11.06 ± 1.12 and 11.17 ± 1.10) in these three areas respectively indicate a significant difference (<0.05). The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) enables us to see the level of genetic variabilities of blue duiker through skull measurements. These variable measurements are close together from one to another where there is a high similarity between species. Grouping these biometric characteristics permitted us to identify three structures of the blue duiker, corresponding to the three sub-species found in Cameroon.