Selection of cranial and mandible measurements for traditional morphometric analyses of southern African vesper bats of the genera Eptesicus, Hypsugo, Neoromicia, and Pipistrellus (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) T. C. Kearney 1 * and P. J. Taylor 2 1 Department of Vertebrates, Small Mammals Section, Ditsong National Museum of Natural History (formerly Transvaal Museum), P.O. Box 413, Pretoria, 0001 South Africa 2 Department of Ecology and Resource Management, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Venda, Private Bag X5050, Thohoyandou, 0950 South Africa. KEARNEY, T. C. and TAYLOR, P. J., 2011. Selection of cranial and mandible measurements for traditional morpho- metric analyses of southern African vesper bats from the genera Eptesicus, Hypsugo, Neoromicia, and Pipistrellus (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae). Annals of the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History 1: 53–61. Univariate and multivariate statistical procedures were used to select 12 statistically problem-free and redun- dancy-reduced cranial and mandible measurements from a larger suite of 52 measurements made on Neoromicia nana. Specimens from three additional vesper species (Neoromicia capensis, Neoromicia zuluensis and Pipistrellus hesperidus) were used in an R-mode PCA to identify the measurements that best distinguish the different species. This selection process was followed to select meaningful measurements used in a traditional morphometric analysis to assess inter-generic as well as intra- and inter-specific variation in southern African vesper bats from the genera Eptesicus, Hypsugo, Neoromicia, and Pipistrellus. Keywords: Character Selection, Traditional Morphometrics, Eptesicus, Hypsugo, Neoromicia, Pipistrellus, southern Africa. INTRODUCTION Prior to a traditional morphometric analysis of southern African vesper bats from the genera Eptesicus, Hypsugo, Neoromicia, and Pipistrellus (Kearney, 2005), to assess inter-generic as well as intra- and inter-specific variation, univariate and multivariate statistical procedures were used to select measurements following the protocol suggested by Chimimba and Dippenaar (1995). The character selection protocol of Chimimba and Dippenaar (loc. cit.) aims to select a set of statistically problem-free, redundancy-reduced morphometric measurements that are meaningful in providing adequate representation of the three-dimensional shape of the skull in a pattern consistent with the concept of morphological integration. Olsen and Miller (1958) argued that with morphological integration, discrete character changes that occur in the evolution of species do not do so independ- ently of each other but are inter-related, and that in analyses of change morphological totality can be preserved through combinations of discrete characters. Expanding on this concept, Olsen and Miller (1958) developed a mathematical model for morphological integration that tests the hypothesis that groupings of measurements developed mathe- matically (p-groups), based on a selected level of correlation coefficient, imply biological groups (F-groups) that are associated on the basis of func- tion and/or development. Since then morphological integration has been demonstrated in many differ- ent organ systems and taxa (see list of references in Cheverud, 1995). Besides providing information to understand inter-system relationships, the morphological integration model also provided a rationale for the choice of representative/relevant measurements, i.e., the choice of a single measurement or a limited series of measurements from different develop- mental/functional/phenotypic sets allows fewer measurements to stand for many and represent systems in an analysis (Olsen and Miller, 1958). Character selection procedures, to select a set of statistically problem-free, redundancy-reduced morphometric measurements that are meaningful in a pattern consistent with the concept of morpho- logical integration, were previously used in a few studies on vertebrates; a viverrid carnivore, Cynictis penicillata (Taylor and Meester, 1993), a shrew, Myosorex varius (Kearney, 1993), and a murid rodent, Aethomys namaquensis (Chimimba and Dippenaar, 1995), and more recently on inverte- brates (six weevil species; van Rensburg et al., 2003). This study, however, appears to be the first time these procedures have been applied to bats. *Author for correspondence. E-mail: kearney@ditsong.org.za