PERSPECTIVES ON INDIVIDUAL VARIATION IN MAMMALS

Understanding genetic and phenotypic variation within species is funda mentally important for elucidating evolutionary processes and for taki ng effective action to conserve these species, yet too often mammalogi sts give only cursory attention to individual variation. The purposes of this special feature are to introduce some of the key statistical a nd experimental methods for studying individual variation, to provide a sampling of mammalian studies that illustrate the importance of such variation, and to encourage mammalogists to take a fresh look at thei r favorite problems and species with individual variation in mind.