Words and photograph by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

4. MORPHOMETRICS

Within each Processing Crew group there is at least one member who knows how to take and record morphometric measurements; morphometrics refers to the quantitative analysis of form: a concept that encompasses size and shape. Morphometric analyses are useful in analyzing the impact of mutations on shape, developmental changes in form, covariances between ecological factors and shape, as well for estimating quantitative-genetic parameters of shape. Morphometrics can be used to quantify a trait of evolutionary significance, and by detecting changes in the shape, deduce something of their ontogeny1, function or evolutionary relationships.2

"We take some body measurements; chest girth, length of metatarsal, overall body length, the weight of the animal, etc. Some of this analysis is related to the animal's health, but a lot of this work helps us when comparing one area (range) to another." - Jeff Short, Wildlife Population Biologist.

  1. The development of a life form. [↩]
  2. Morphometrics, Wikipedia [↩]
OUTLIER PROVIDED SOME OF THE EQUIPMENT AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT NECESSARY TO MAKE THIS FIELD STUDY POSSIBLE.