Internal organ masses of the red fox Vulpes vulpes: data from the wild

• Autorzy: Cavallini P.
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Totally, 330 (125 females, 205 males) red foxes Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758), killed during predator control operations (January to April 1992) in central Italy, were dissected. Their kidneys, spleen, heart, liver, and adrenal giands were weighed and related to body mass, age, sex, and kidney fat index. The mass of all organs examined, except for the adrenal glands, was highly correlated with body mass. Sex, age, and fat did not affect liver or spleen mass. Kidney fat was negatively related to the mass of heart and kidneys. Only kidneys and adrenals increased in mass with age. The increases were small, and could not explain an increase of total body mass with age. The hearts and spleens were relatively heavier in wild foxes than in farmed foxes, whereas livers were relatively lighter. Environmental factors (exposure to parasites and physical activity) may explain the differences. The masses of all of the organs were more variable in wild foxes than in farmed foxes, possibly because of a greater environmental and genetic variability.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

environmental factor; internal organ; body mass; wild fox; adrenal gland; fox; red fox; spleen; Vulpes vulpes; kidney; heart; farm fox; liver

• Wydawca: -
• Czasopismo: Acta Theriologica
• Rocznik: 1997
• Tom: 42
• Numer: 1
• Opis fizyczny: p.91-98,fig.

Twórcy

autor

Cavallini P.

• University of Florence, via Romana 17-19, 50125 Florence, Italy

Bibliografia

• Abies E. D. 1975. Ecology of the red fox in North America. [In: The wild canids. Their systematics, behavioral ecology and evolution. M. W. Fox, edj. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York: 216-236.
• Allen S. H. and Gulke J. 1981. The effect of age on adult red fox body weights. The Prairie Naturalist 13: 97-98.
• Baxter J. D. and Tyrrell J. B. 1987. The adrenal cortex. [In: Endocrinology and metabolism. P. Felig, J. D. Baxter, A. E. Broadus and L. A. Frohman, eds], McGraw-Hill, New York: 511-650.
• Borgsteede F. H. M. 1984. Helminth parasites of wild foxes (Vulpes vulpes L.) in the Netherlands. Zeitschrift für Parasitenkunde 70: 281-285.
• Cavallini P. 1994. Variations in the biology of the red fox Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus). Ph D thesis, University of Siena, Italy: 1-120. (In Italian)
• Cavallini P. 1995. Variation in the body size of the red fox. Annales Zoologici Fennici 32: 421-427.
• Cavallini P. 1996, Comparison of body condition indices in the red fox (Fissipedia, Canidae). Mammalia 60: 449-462.
• Cavallini P. and Santini S. 1995. Age determination in the red fox in a Mediterranean habitat. Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde 60: 136-142.
• Cavallini P. and Volpi T. 1996. Variation in the diet of the red fox in a Mediterranean area. Revue d'Ecologie (La Terre et la Vie) 51: 173-189.
• Ginsberg J. R. and Macdonald D. W. 1990. Foxes, wolves, jackals, and dogs. An action plan for the conservation of canids. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland: 1-116.
• Henry J. D. 1986. Red fox - the catlike canine. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C,: 1-174.
• Hoffman R. A. and Kirkpatrick C. M. 1954. Red fox weights and reproduction in Tippecanoe county, Indiana. Journal of Mammalogy 35: 504-509.
• LaJeunesse T. A. and Peterson R, O. 1993. Marrow and kidney fat as condition indices in gray wolves. Wildlife Society Bulletin 21: 87-90.
• Lilliefors H. W. 1967. On the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality with mean and variance unknown. Journal of the American Statistical Association 64: 399-402.
• Lloyd H. G. 1980. The red fox. Batsford, London: 1-320.
• Lund M. K. 1959. The red fox in Norway. I. Survey of 551 red foxes collected, their size and sex-ratio. Meddelelser fra Statens Viltundersokelser (Papers of the Norwegian State Game Research) 2: 1-57.
• Mcintosh D. L. 1963. Reproduction and growth of the fox in the Canberra district. Wildlife Research 8: 132-141.Nelson B. B. and Chapman J. A. 1982. Age determination and population characteristics of red foxes from Maryland. Zeitschrift fur Saugetierkunde 47: 296-311,
• Poll A., Arispici M., Marconcini A., Mancianti F. and de Monte D. 1984. Angiostrongylus uasorum (Baillet, 1866) in red foxes (Vutpes vulpes L.) in Italy. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 20: 345-346.
• Wilkinson L. 1990. SYSTAT: the system for statistics. Systat Inc., Evanston, Illinois: 1-638.
• Zhan Y,, Yasuda J. and Too K. 1991. Reference data on the anatomy and serum biochemistry of the silver fox. Japanese Journal of Veterinary Research 39: 39—50.
• Zimen E. (edj 1980. Biogeographica Vol. 38: the red fox. W. Junk B. V. Publishers, The Hague, The Netherlands: 1-285.