Physical Differences Between the American Woodland Caribou's

Physical Differences

• Some of the caribous had smaller antlers than others.  Some of the antlers were also broken and others weren’t. I think that this is a continuous trait because there are many possibilities that the antlers could be arranged.

• The coloring of the caribous was a variation I say. Some of them were darker and others were lighter. This is a discrete characteristic because their shade only varies so much and they wouldn’t be a different color.
• One of the caribous was taller than the other three. This could have anything to do with age or gender. This is a continuous characteristic because the height of the caribous can range greatly.
• I noticed that two of the caribous had shorter legs than the others. I think that this is a continuous trait because the caribous can have many different length of legs and that they caribou's legs could still grow.
• One physical difference I noticed in the caribous is the shape of their ears. One of the caribous had very round ears and a different one had pointed ears. I think that this would be a discrete characteristic because I don't think that their ear shapes would change that much.
• Another difference between the caribous is that one of the smaller caribous had a smaller tail than the rest of them. This could be a continuous characteristic because the length of their tail could be different for every caribou.
• The shape of the caribous face was different between all of the caribous. some of them had more rounder faces and others were larger. This is a continuous characteristic because the size of their face can vary.
• The nose size of the caribous was a difference that I observed. One of them had a really large nose where as the other caribous didn't have noses nearly as large. the caribou with the larger nose probably had an advantage over the others as he would be able to smell food better. This would be a continuous characteristic because the nose sizes would depend on the caribou and would be probably different for each one.
• There was one caribou who didn't have as long of fur as the other ones. That caribou could have been a younger caribou. This would be continuous trait because the caribous could have many different lengths of fur. 

• The hoof size was another difference between the caribous. I noticed that some of them had quite large hooves and then another one had hooves that weren't as large. This would be a continuous trait because the hooves could be any different size.