Body size and altitude partitioning of the hares Lepus europaeus and L. corsicanus living in sympatry and allopatry in Italy
Francesco M. Angelici & Luca Luiselli
Angelici, F.M. & Luiselli, L. 2007: Body size and altitude partitioning of the hares Lepus europaeus and L. corsicanus living in sympatry and allopatry in Italy. - Wildl. Biol. 13: 251-257.
We present morphological and ecological data on hares of the genus Lepus living on the Italian peninsula and Sicily. During 16 years, we analysed specimens shot by hunters with respect to their habitat choice and distribution. Our morphometric data confirmed the existence of two different but closely related species, i.e. Lepus europaeus present in central and northern Italy and Lepus corsicanus endemic to central and southern Italy and Sicily. The distribution of the two hare species overlaps in a wide area of central Italy, tentatively estimated to be . 200 km. In terms of altitude, L. europaeus and L. corsicanus do not differ significantly when they live in allopatry. However, when they coexist in sympatry, L. corsicanus occurs at altitudes significantly higher than L. europaeus. L. europaeus inhabits significantly higher altitudes when it lives in allopatry than when it lives in sympatry, and L. corsicanus inhabits significantly higher altitudes when it lives in sympatry than when it lives in allopatry.
Key words: ecological coexistence, habitat choice, Italy, Lepus corsicanus, Lepus europaeus
Francesco Maria Angelici, Fondazione Italiana Zoologia dei Vertebrati - Zoology, via Cleonia 30, I-00152 Roma, Italy - e-mail: frangema@tiscali.it
Luca Luiselli, Fondazione Italiana Zoologia dei Vertebrati - Ecology, via Olona 7, I-00198 Roma, Italy - e-mail: lucamlu@tin.it
Corresponding author: Francesco M. Angelici
Received 15 April 2005, accepted 4 September 2006
Associate Editor: Henrik Andrén