Noninvasive age estimation in rodents by measuring incisors width, with the Zaisan mole vole (Ellobius tancrei) as an example
| Autor: | Antonina V. Smorkatcheva, Kristina V. Kuprina |
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| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
biology media_common.quotation_subject Zoology biology.organism_classification 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences 010601 ecology Ellobius Age estimation Mole Ellobius tancrei Animal Science and Zoology Vole Reproduction Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics media_common |
| Zdroj: | Mammalia. 83:64-69 |
| ISSN: | 1864-1547 0025-1461 |
| DOI: | 10.1515/mammalia-2017-0163 |
| Popis: | Non-invasive age estimation is critically important for many field studies but often it represents a significant challenge. In rodents, upper incisors represent a part of a cranium which can be readily measured in an alive animal. We propose an age estimation method based on the measurements of both upper incisors’ width (IW) for a subterranean rodent, Ellobius tancrei. The IW measurements for 77 laboratory-born females and 81 males were fitted, separately for the sexes, by sigmoidal Gompertz growth functions to obtain the asymptotic values. Based on the data set encompassing pre-asymptotic ages, we then derived a polynomial regression model with log-transformed age as а predictor. The analysis revealed no statistically significant sex difference in growth patterns. Derived model explained 91% of IW variation and was used to obtain predicted values of age and their 95% prediction intervals through inverse calculations. We conclude that IW is a potentially useful age indicator for mole voles and possibly other rodents in cases when invasive or time-consuming methods are non-appropriate. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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