To investigate differences of size and shape of skulls among rodent species and between male and female,we radiographed specimens and measured parameters of skulls of three species(Tscherskia triton,Cricetulus barabensis and Apodemus agrarius) collected from the Raoyang country,Hebei Province,China.The data was analyzed with MANOVA in general linear models by SPSS 13.0 for windows.The results showed that:The three rodent species were significantly different in SL,SW,GBS,FL,RBCL,RSL,RSW and RFL.SL,SW and GBS of Cricetulus barabensis were smaller than other two species.Tscherskia triton had dumpy skull according as the ratio of skull length and skull width was smallest among the three species.Male and female were different in SL,SW,RSW and RFL.Males were larger than female in many parameters of skull relative size.Species and sex factors had interaction effect on SL,GBS,GBS/SW and BCL/SW.The observed differences of skull size and shape among the three species and between genders can be used to distinguish the species and gender.
