Paper Title
Quantitative Hair Characteristics of Brown Hares (Lepus Europaeus, Pallas 1778) in Turkey (Lagomorpha: Leporidae)

Abstract
This study is based on some hair characteristics of 29 brown hare specimens (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778) collected from various climate regions in Turkey between 2008 and 2012 years. Analyzed traits included fiber diameter (FD), fiber lengths of hauter (H) and barbe (B), fiber tenacity (T), and elongation (EL). The effects of geography and sex on those of traits were assesed via the Least squares means. It was determined that theFD, H, B, T, and EL traits were not significantly affected by geography and sex. The interaction of geography and sex were only found significant for EL (P = 0.0949). Significant phenotypic correlations were found between B and T (–0.33, P = 0.0951), and between T and EL (–0.54, P = 0.0051). It is considered that this researchmay contribute to the taxonomyand ecomorphology of Turkish brown hare. Key words - Lepus europaeus, brown hare, hair characteristics, Turkey