Studies on the European hare. XXVIII. The weight of the eye lens in the European hares of known age

Andersen, Johs; Jensen, Birger

doi:10.4098/at.arch.72-8

Cited by 18 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…Eye lens weights have been confirmed to be an ideal criterion to distinguish juvenile hares from adults (Andersen & Jensen, 1972; Keith & Cary, 1979; Kauhala & Soveri, 2001). For Cape hare, 225 mg is a dividing limit between juveniles (<1 year) and adults (>1 years) (Lu et al ., 1994).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Postnatal growth of skull linear measurements of Cape Hare Lepus capensis in northern China: an analysis in an adaptive context

Lü

2003

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

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304 skulls of Cape hare ( Lepus capensis ) were collected from two climatically distinct localities in northern China. With eye lens weight as a continuous age variable, postnatal growth patterns of 25 cranial linear measurements in relation to sex, growth season and region were analysed to understand the morphological basis of life history adaptation. In almost all the skull measurements, no significant differences were found between either sex or growth seasons. Principal component analysis revealed that facial elements accounted for the greatest proportion of skull morphological variation. Von Bertalanffy function was applied to describe growth trajectories of the skull elements. Based on this model, the growth rates of skull elements and the age at which they reached a certain proportion (95%) of asymptotes were compared. The results showed that skull growth exhibited an allometric pattern, with neural components attaining their final size more rapidly (at about 2-3 months old in tympanic bulla and 4-6 months old in others) than did the facial, which continued to grow well into postnatal life (at 6-10 months old). The earlier establishment of neurocranial morphology was associated with a fully developed central nervous system, which may play a key role in improving the survival of animals during the early phase of life. There was a regional difference in developmental rate of the hare skull. For all the skull parameters, northern hares had a more rapid rate of cranial growth compared to the southern, i.e. skull elements of juveniles from northern population were relatively larger at comparable ages and achieved adult size 0.5-4.0 months earlier than those from the south. In adult hares, however, no significant regional differences in any of the skull parameters were present. Adaptive explanations for the regional difference in ontogenetic pattern of skull morphology include age-specific thermoregulation constraint, seasonrelated food availability and age-dependent predation pressure. Based on the findings of this study, it is suggested that the postnatal growing period represents a crucial time of life, and that improvement of survivorship when young by growth adaptation forms an important aspect of the hare's life history strategies.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Postnatal growth of skull linear measurements of Cape Hare Lepus capensis in northern China: an analysis in an adaptive context

Lü

2003

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

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“…The treatment of the eye lenses followed the recommendations by Andersen & Jensen (1972). Two distinct fractions of lens weights, separated at 275 mg, made it possible to distinguish young of the year from adult hares.…”

Section: Age Determinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Studies on the European hare. XXXV. Structure, size, and dynamics of three European hare populations in Southern Sweden

Frylestam¹

1979

Acta Theriol.

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“…Determination of the animal age based on the lens weight is possible, because the growth of lens lasts to grow up to the death (Lord 1959 ; Augusteyn 2008 ) and, hence, the dry mass of the eye lens has commonly been used to estimate the age of mammalian species (Lord 1959 ; Friend 1967 ; Dapson 1980 ; Augusteyn 2014 ). The individuals with a dry weight of the lenses less than 275 mg were classified as juveniles (Andersen and Jensen 1972 ; Cabon-Raczynska and Raczynski 1972 ; Suchentrunk et al 1991 ). The liver samples were perfused with a cold solute on containing 0.13 M NaCl, 0.5 mM KCl, and 0.8 mM MgCl 2 supplemented with 0.1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF) and stored at − 20 °C until H1 histones were isolated.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brown Hare’s (Lepus europaeus) Histone H1 Variant H1.2 as an Indicator of Anthropogenic Stress

Kowalski

Markowski

2018

Arch Environ Contam Toxicol

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From the liver tissues of brown hare individuals that lived in two various habitats, i.e., the agricultural region with the predominant farms and the industrial area near a metallurgical plant, histones H1 were analyzed to compare their within and between population variability. Furthermore, because agricultural production emits mainly organic pollutants and metallurgical industry is a primarily source of inorganic contaminations, we wanted to check how the brown hare individuals are sensitive for both agents. Among brown hare H1 histones, the histone H1.2 was determined as heterogeneous due to its varied mobility in two-dimensional SDS–polyacrylamide gel. The obtained electrophoretic patterns contained differently moving single spots of histone H1.2 and also its double spots have a similar rate of electrophoretic mobility. Based on this, two homozygous phenotypes (slowly migrating 2a and faster moving 2b) and a heterozygous phenotype (2a2b) was distinguished. The relatively low variable (CV < 0.25) and comparably abundant (p > 0.05) histone H1.2 homozygous phenotypes form a heterozygous phenotype in a similar proportion, at a ratio approximating 0.5. Although the brown hare population originating from agricultural area displayed a slight excess of heterozygous individuals 2a2b (F = − 0.04), it was conformed to the Hardy–Weinberg assumption (χ2 = 0.035, p = 0.853). Compared with this population, a sevenfold reduced frequency of the phenotype 2b and above tenfold increase of a heterozygosity (F = − 0.53) was observed in the brown hare population inhabiting the vicinity of metallurgical plant. Therefore, this population did not fit to the Hardy–Weinberg law (χ2 = 5.65, p = 0.017). Despite the negligible genetic differentiation (FST = 0.026) between brown hare populations inhabiting areas with different anthropogenic pressure, a statistically significant difference in the distribution of their phenotypes (χ2 = 6.01, p = 0.049) and alleles (χ2 = 6.50, p = 0.013) was noted. The collected data confirm that the brown hare species is sensitive for environmental quality and may serve as a good indicator of habitat conditions related to both organic pollution emitted by agricultural activities (PIC = 0.48) and inorganic contamination originating from metallurgical processes (PIC = 0.49). These difference in the environmental quality might be assessed by estimation of genetic variability among the brown hare populations, based on the phenotypes distribution of histone H1 variant H1.2, the protein that was not so far employed as a molecular marker of anthropogenic stress.

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Studies on the European hare. XXVIII. The weight of the eye lens in the European hares of known age

Cited by 18 publications

References 1 publication

Postnatal growth of skull linear measurements of Cape Hare Lepus capensis in northern China: an analysis in an adaptive context

Postnatal growth of skull linear measurements of Cape Hare Lepus capensis in northern China: an analysis in an adaptive context

Studies on the European hare. XXXV. Structure, size, and dynamics of three European hare populations in Southern Sweden

Brown Hare’s (Lepus europaeus) Histone H1 Variant H1.2 as an Indicator of Anthropogenic Stress

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