Table 5a.

Correlation, using Kendall's tau (τ) rank, of suture pattern per species in relation to the classical paradigm (Krogman, 1930), outgroups marked with an asterisk (*)

Species	τ	P	Average cranial length recorded (mm)
Marmota marmota*	0.43	< 0.01	56.7
Castor fiber*	0.33	< 0.05	77.6
Ondatra zibethicus*	−0.01	< 0.75	66.7
Nannospalax ehrenbergi*	−0.05	< 0.75	59.4
Rhizomys sumatrensis*	0.19	< 0.25	65.2
Thryonomys swinderianus	0.39	< 0.01	80.1
Hystrix cristata	0.34	< 0.05	125.4
Hystrix brachyura	0.39	< 0.01	99.7
Atherurus africanus	0.26	< 0.10	90.5
Bathyergus suillus	0.01	< 0.75	72.2
Sphiggurus villosus	0.12	< 0.50	66.1
Sphiggurus insidiosus	−0.04	< 0.75	65.5
Erethizon dorsatum	0.20	< 0.25	82.9
Coendou prehensilis	0.15	< 0.50	75.7
Cuniculus paca	0.49	< 0.001	128.8
Myoprocta acouchy	0.40	< 0.01	71.1
Dasyprocta leporina	0.37	< 0.01	96.1
Dasyprocta fuliginosa	0.45	< 0.01	74.7
Kerodon rupestris	0.18	< 0.25	71.4
Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris	0.28	< 0.05	117.3
Dolichotis patagonum	0.41	< 0.10	95.4
Galea spixii	0.25	< 0.10	56.0
Cavia porcellus	0.22	< 0.25	59.8
Cavia aperea	0.20	< 0.25	60.2
Spalacopus cyanus	0.21	< 0.25	44.0
Octodon degus	0.19	< 0.25	47.6
Proechimys cuvieri	−0.08	< 0.75	58.9
Makalata armata	0.01	< 0.75	46.8
Myocastor coypus	0.03	< 0.75	90.6
Capromys pilorides	0.29	< 0.05	84.1
Chinchilla lanigera	0.28	< 0.10	58.27