Figure 3. Two scatter plots depicting results of 18 log-transformed craniodental variables as measured on 155 intact specimens representing samples from the Udzungwa Mts (OTU 15) and regions of the type localities of Praomys melanotus (OTUs 16–18) and P. taitae (OTU 1). The factor scores of the type specimens of melanotus and taitae are indicated by small crosses; see Table 3 for variable correlations and variance explained. A, projection of unrotated specimen scores onto the first and second principal components (PC) extracted; major axes of the species constellations and regression statistics are indicated (see text for discussion). Specimens from the Udzungwa Mts, a locality which Allen & Loveridge (1933) had allocated to their new species melanotus, are aligned with examples of P. taitae. B, projection of specimen scores, after varimax rotation, onto the first and second principal components (PC) extracted. Reorientation of major axes of the species constellations maximizes age variation along PC I, whereas taxon differences are consolidated mostly along PC II (see text for discussion).

Published as part of Carleton, Michael D. & Stanley, William T., 2012, Species limits within the Praomys delectorum group (Rodentia: Muridae: Murinae) of East Africa: a morphometric reassessment and biogeographical implications, pp. 420-469 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 165 (2) on page 429, DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2012.00817.x, http://zenodo.org/record/5407959