Gross body composition in postnatal development of the bank vole. I. Growth under laboratory conditions

Abstract

Gross body composition was studied in 465 captive bank voles during postnatal development (from 1-180 days of life). It was shown that voles from small litters (1-3 young) do not differ from individuals from large litters (4-6 young) either as to degree of adiposis or the average rate of accumulation of the fat-free components of the body mass (FFB). The animals reached chemical maturity at the age of 55-60 days. The level of FFB composition at the stage of chemical maturity is not a species-specific feature and only characterizes local populations. During the first 6 months of development the calorific value of a unit by weight of the protein and fat in bank voles is constant, being respectively 4.583 and 9.240 cal/g. I. INTRODUCTIONThe large number of studies of Clethrionomys glareolus (S c h r e b e r, 1780), one of the dominant rodents in forest ecosystems in Europe, have contributed to what is known of the features of development and growth of this species in captivity (Sviridenko, 1959; Petrov & Airapet'jans, 1961; Mazak, 1962;Drożdż, 1965) and under natural conditions (Pearson, 1962;N e w s o n, 1963;Bergstedt, 1965;Kubik, 1965; Bujalska & Gliwic z, 1968;Claude, 1970;Crawley, 1970;Zejda, 1971; K a i k u s a 1 o, 1972). These data, however, relate to the biology of the species or to morphological parameters. An exception to this is the study by Sawicka-Kapusta (1974) on the quantitative relations between the main body components in bank voles during the process of growth.Growth is an increase in the mass of the organism, consisting of the growth of tissues of which it is made, and should therefore be considered *) Praca została zrealizowana w ramach problemu węzłowego 09.1.7., koordynowanego przez Instytut Ekologii PAN.[381]

Differentiation of seasonal generations of field voles on bone adhesion lines

“…The results presented above, and also the results of earlier studies, show that laboratory breeding without standardized illumination programme, food and humidity, permits of maintaining differentiation in rate of growth and development of the rodents depending on the season of their birth (Fedyk, 1974a(Fedyk, , 1974bKlevezal et al, 1984). The differences we found in structure and rate of formation of adhesion lines in the mandibular bone may therefore give a good picture of the differentiation existing in nature.…”

Bioenergetics of growth, pregnancy and lactation in the laboratory mouse, Mus musculus

“…Caloric equivalents were therefore calculated separately for embryos and neonates and did not need to be adjusted for RD. The possible relationship of embryonic caloric density to RD has apparently not been previously tested, although several papers deal directly or indirectly with the possible relation of neonatal caloric density as a function of age (Myrcha & Walkowa, 1968;Brisbin, 1970;Sawicka-Kapusta, 1970Fedyk, 1974;. Some of these authors reported a rapid increase in neonatal caloric density during the first few days of postnatal life and all found Reproductive day (RD) retains its original sign (+ or -) irrespective of its power transformation.…”

“…Caloric density of Mus embryos shown in Table 1 is markedly lower than the few values reported for other rodents (Fleharty et al, 1973) while those of neonates fall well within literature values for this and other rodent species (Myrcha & Walkowa, 1968;Brisbin. 1970;Sawicka-Kapusta, 1970Fedyk, 1974;Randolph et al, 1977).…”

“…Although several studies concerning caloric density of dried mammalian tissue are published (Gorecki, 1965, Sawicka-Kapusta, 1970Studier et al, 1973;Fedyk, 1974;, few bioenergetic studies utilize direct determination of growth or production. Additionally, although multiple regression models have been constructed for other systems (Newell & Roy, 1973;Newell, 1975), this approach has apparently not been used in modelling mammalian energetics.…”

Energy flow through small mammal populations

“…If only two or three trapping sessions have been conducted per year, it can become very difficult to make any estimates of growth because of the small numbers of animals recaptured. In such circumstances it may be necessary to use growth curves derived from laboratory stocks, even though these bear little relationship to what occurs in the field (Bergstedt, 1965;Bujalska & Gliwicz, 1968;Zejda, 1971;Fedyk, 1974aFedyk, , 1974b. Graphical methods are also available for the calculation of the growth of specific cohorts (Allen, 1950;Neess & Dugdale, 1959;Petrusewicz & Hansson, 1975).…”