Organ scaling in the raccoon dog Nyctereutes procyonoides gray 1834, as monitored by influences of internal and external factors.
1. Animals fed a high energy ration had bigger body weight, and bigger heart, brain and genitals then animals fed a normal diet, but they had substantially smaller liver, kidneys, adrenals and thyroid glands than the otherwise smaller animals. Restricted feeding did not necessarily produce smaller organ sizes than normal. 2. The yearly variation in organ sizes was astonishingly large whereas the sex differences were rather rare. 3. For organs like liver, kidneys and thyroid glands the conclusion from the results was independent of the method of expressing the organ mass. The organ sizes seemed to be influenced by many coexisting factors like yearly differences, sex and age of animals, feed and farm.
Department of Applied Zoology, University of Kuopio, POB 6, 70211 Kuopio 21, Finland.
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Korhonen
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Harri
D000818:Animals; D002335:Carnivora / Q000502:physiology*; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D012016:Reference Values