GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE BARREN GROUND CARIBOU: I. HEART GIRTH, HIND FOOT LENGTH, AND BODY WEIGHT RELATIONSHIPS

1966 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. H. McEwan ◽  
A. J. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Body Proportions ◽  
Barren Ground ◽  
Foot Length ◽  
Hind Foot ◽  
Nutritional Environment ◽  
Free Ranging ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus Groenlandicus

The changes in body weight and body proportions associated with growth in well-nourished captive barren ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) are described. Corresponding changes in free ranging wild caribou from the same population are compared with those obtained from the captive specimens. Body weight:hind foot length and body weight:heart girth ratios relative to age are examined as possible parameters for expressing the extent of developmental restriction imposed on the wild caribou by their nutritional environment.

scholarly journals Age-specific fecundity of the Beverly herd of barren-ground caribou

Rangifer ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald C. Thomas ◽  
Samuel J. Barry
Keyword(s):  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Barren Ground ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus Groenlandicus

The age-specific fecundity of the Beverly herd of barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) was monitored each winter from 1979-80 through 1986-87. Fecundity in 840 females increased with age from 12% in yearlings to 86% at age 5 years and it did not decline in old (> 11 yr) females. Significant variations occurred among winters and even between two subherds in one winter. Reproductive abnormalities were detected in 2 of 840 females and a probable resorption in 1 of 420 females collected in March. Only about 5% of the fetuses were conceived late, possibly by repeat ovulators. Combining survival and fecundity data yielded age-specific calf production, which indicated that, for example, 54% of calves were born to females 3-6 years old.

Growth and development of Rattus lutreolus (Rodentia : Muridae) in the laboratory

1979 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 945 ◽  
Author(s):  
BJ Fox
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Body Length ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
Body Measurements ◽  
Breeding Colony ◽  
Reproductive Maturity ◽  
Stages Of Growth ◽  
Hind Foot ◽  
Developmental Features ◽  
Laboratory Breeding

A laboratory breeding colony of R. l. lutreolus was used to obtain data on the growth in the length of head, hind foot, tail, head and body, and body weight during the first 130 days of life. The development of external body features was compared to that known for other Australian Rattus. The young are blind and naked at birth and are not fully furred until 13 days. Incisors are visible at day 8 (5-11) and erupt about day 12 (8-15) with the eyes opening at 17 days (15-18). Independence was achieved at about 25 days (23-30) with the first signs of reproductive maturity at about 60-70 days. Five stages of growth can be related to developmental features from teeth eruption to puberty and reproductive maturity. The onset of hearing (14-15) days appear to be as important in development as does the opening of the eyes. Body measurements show sigmoid relationships to a linear equivalence of weight (W*0.33), except for head and body length which is linear. R. l. lutreolus belongs to the fast-growing group in Australian murids. Measurements from laboratory-bred animals are in agreement with those for field animals, with head and body length the best single parameter for obtaining approximate ages.

scholarly journals Reproduction and growth in a Neotropical arboreal mouse: Oecomys rutilus (Sigmodontinae: Cricetidae) in French Guiana

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
François Catzeflis
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
French Guiana ◽  
Tail Length ◽  
Crystalline Lens ◽  
Postnatal Growth ◽  
Morphometric Measurements ◽  
Daily Growth ◽  
Foot Length ◽  
Average Litter Size ◽  
Hind Foot

Abstract: Postnatal growth and development of the small Neotropical mouse Oecomys rutilus (Sigmodontinae: Cricetidae) were investigated from birth to day 143, in the laboratory. Morphometric measurements at age of 3 days, of both sexes combined, revealed body weight to be 3.4 ± 0.3 g, mean tail length as 27.4 ± 1.1 mm, and mean hind foot length as 9.3 ± 0.7 mm. Body weight was found to increase steadily until at least 69 days, whereas the instantaneous growth rates of other measurements declined earlier: the daily growth of hind foot length declined to a minimum at age of 24 days, and the growth of tail and of ear declined by the age of 33 days. Average litter size for 12 captive births was 2.5, ranging from 2 to 3. The preserved eye crystalline lens was weighted in 23 captive-born animals of known age, allowing a rough estimate of the age of reproduction in wild-caught animals. Based on the inferred relation between eye-lens weight and age, the youngest reproductive (pregnant) wild-caught females had an estimated age of 90 and 95 days.

Morphology of the barren-ground caribou ovary

1978 ◽  
Vol 56 (8) ◽  
pp. 1684-1696 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Charles Dauphiné Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Connective Tissue ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Corpora Lutea ◽  
Seasonal Incidence ◽  
Histological Techniques ◽  
Northern Canada ◽  
Ovary Weight ◽  
Barren Ground ◽  
Ovarian Stroma ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus Groenlandicus

Reproductive tracts were collected from 532 female caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) in northern Canada over a [Formula: see text]-year period. Ovaries were weighed and scrutinized by gross and histological techniques. Ovaries of nulliparous and nongravid, parous cows responded to follicular fluctuations by increasing in weight in summer and declining in winter. Weights of ovaries from calves, yearlings, and 2 year olds overlapped extensively. Formation of corpora lutea of pregnancy more than doubled ovary weight. During gestation ovary weight declined and then partially recovered; it increased with age in pregnant cows. The number and size of follicles [Formula: see text] diameter increased with age until puberty, reaching greatest development just before the autumn rut. After puberty the seasonal incidence of such follicles remained stable except during gestation, when it declined. Corpora lutea of pregnancy regressed to form apparently permanent scars composed of vascular and connective tissue remnants. Secondary corpora lutea developed in 35% of the cows at or before conception and upon regression produced scars which were not permanent. Regressing corpora lutea of estrus also disappeared into the ovarian stroma, apparently within 1 year. In individual cows one ovary, selected at random, dominated in the production of ova and corpora lutea.

scholarly journals Genetic diversity, structure and gene flow of migratory barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) in Canada

Rangifer ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keri McFarlane ◽  
Anne Gunn ◽  
Mitch Campbell ◽  
Mathieu Dumond ◽  
Jan Adamczewski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Gene Flow ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Continuous Distribution ◽  
Effective Population ◽  
Genetic Population ◽  
Barren Ground ◽  
Cyclic Changes ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus Groenlandicus

Migratory barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) provide an opportunity to examine the genetic population structure of a migratory large mammal whose movements and distribution, in some instances, have not been heavily influenced by human activities that result in habitat loss or fragmentation. These caribou have likely reached large effective population sizes since their rapid radiation during the early Holocene despite cyclic changes in abundance. Migratory barren-ground caribou are managed as discrete subpopulations. We investigated genetic variation among those subpopulations to determine the patterns of genetic diversity within and among them, and the implications for long-term persistence of caribou. We identified three distinct genetic clusters across the Canadian arctic tundra: the first cluster consisted of all fully-continental migratory barren-ground subpopulations; the second cluster was the Dolphin and Union caribou; and the third cluster was caribou from Southampton Island. The Southampton Island caribou are especially genetically distinct from the other barren-ground type caribou. Gene flow among subpopulations varied across the range. Occasional gene flow across the sea-ice is likely the reason for high levels of genetic variation in the Dolphin and Union subpopulation, which experienced very low numbers in the past. These results suggest that for most migratory caribou subpopulations, connectivity among subpopulations plays an important role in maintaining natural genetic diversity. Our analyses provide insight into the levels of microsatellite genetic diversity and patterns of gene flow that may be common to large subpopulations that historically had a continuous distribution across a large continental range. These data can also be used as a benchmark to compare the effects of habitat fragmentation and bottlenecks on other large caribou populations.

scholarly journals What Happened to the Beverly Caribou Herd after 1994?

ARCTIC ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Adamczewski ◽  
Anne Gunn ◽  
Kim G. Poole ◽  
Alexander Hall ◽  
John Nishi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
Herd Size ◽  
Barren Ground ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
The North ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Ground Survey ◽  
Newborn Calves ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus Groenlandicus

The Beverly herd was one of the first large migratory herds of barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) defined in northern Canada on the basis of annual return of breeding females to traditional calving grounds near Beverly Lake in Nunavut. In 1994, herd size was estimated at 276 000 ± 106 600 (SE) adult caribou, but monitoring was minimal from 1994 to 2007. The next calving ground survey in 2002 revealed that caribou densities had dropped by more than half since 1994; annual surveys following from 2007 to 2009 demonstrated an extreme decline in numbers of calving cows, and by 2011, no newborn calves were seen there. We examine two possible explanations for the declining use of the traditional Beverly calving grounds from 1994 until their abandonment by 2011. One explanation is that a true numerical decline in herd size occurred, driven in at least the later stages by low cow survival and poor calf productivity, which led the remaining Beverly cows to switch to the neighbouring Ahiak calving ground 250 km to the north in 2007 – 09 and join that herd. An alternative explanation is that the decline on the traditional Beverly calving grounds was largely due to a distributional shift to the north of the Beverly herd that may have begun in the mid-1990s. We suggest that the former explanation is the more likely and that the Beverly herd no longer exists as a distinct herd. We acknowledge that gaps in monitoring of Beverly and Ahiak caribou hamper definitive evaluation of the Beverly herd’s fate. The large size sometimes achieved by barren-ground caribou herds is not a guarantee of persistence; monitoring shortfalls may hamper management actions to address declines.

Brucellosis in reindeer, Rangifer tarandus L., and the migratory barren-ground caribou, Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus (L.), in Canada

1970 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 1023-1027 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Broughton ◽  
L. P. E. Choquette ◽  
J. G. Cousineau ◽  
F. L. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Positive Reaction ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
River Delta ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Barren Ground ◽  
Animal Populations ◽  
Sexually Mature ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus Groenlandicus ◽  
Mackenzie River

Serum samples from 1692 reindeer slaughtered in the Mackenzie River Delta in the last decade and from 320 Kaminuriak barren-ground caribou killed between June 1966 and July 1968 were tested for brucellosis. All sera yielding titers of 1:25 or higher were considered to be positive. A positive reaction was obtained in 148 of the 1692 reindeer and 14 of the 320 barren-ground caribou tested, giving an overall reactor percentage of 8.74 in reindeer and 4.37 in caribou.Orchitis, epididymitis, bursitis, metritis, abortion, and placental retention—conditions associated with brucellosis in reindeer in the U.S.S.R. and caribou in Alaska—were not noted in the autopsy of the 1692 reindeer and of 500 sexually mature barren-ground caribou. Three possible records of bursitis, of unknown nature, in barren-ground caribou are discussed. Seemingly, brucellosis does not represent a serious threat to either the Mackenzie River Delta reindeer or the Kaminuriak barren-ground caribou population, but its detection in these animal populations is of interest from a public health standpoint.

Denésoliné (Chipewyan) Knowledge of Barren-Ground Caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus) Movements

ARCTIC ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Kendrick ◽  
P.O.'B. Lyver ◽  
Lutsël K'é Dene First Nation
Keyword(s):  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Barren Ground ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus Groenlandicus
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