Body composition of muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) and its estimation from condition index and mass measurements

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (11) ◽  
pp. 2021-2034 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Z. Adamczewski ◽  
P. F. Flood ◽  
A. Gunn

We used data on the anatomical and chemical body composition of 22 muskoxen (7 adult females, 6 subadult females, 2 yearlings, 5 calves, and 2 near-term fetuses) from Victoria Island, Northwest Territories, to evaluate basic patterns of body composition and allometric growth in this species and to assess methods of estimating body composition from mass and index measurements. Ingesta-free body mass (IFBM) ranged from 9 kg in the 2 fetuses to 150 kg in the largest cow, and fatness from 2.0% of IFBM in a newborn calf to 29.0% in a mature cow. The proportion of fat increased most rapidly in muskoxen with IFBM ≥ 100 kg. In the fatter females, about 33% of the fat was intermuscular, 27% subcutaneous, 20% abdominal, and 13% intramuscular. In muskoxen ≥ 3 years old, ingesta accounted for 26.8 ± 1.1% of body mass and pelage for 4–4.5% of IFBM. Muscle mass was best estimated from masses of individual muscles, protein mass from IFBM, bone mass from the masses of limb bones, and ash mass from IFBM. Dissectible and total fat masses were less predictable, and were best estimated by multiple regressions combining kidney fat mass and a measure of body mass with up to three other measurements. Body composition and fat distribution in muskoxen were similar to those in cattle and sheep and the extent of fattening exceeded that reported in wild ruminants except for Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus).

Rangifer ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 71 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. R. Hofmann

Dietary niche, feeding type classification and seasonal strategies of Rangifer tarandus and Ovibos moschatus discussed in relation to the anatomy of their digestive system. Classification criteria for the flexible feeding type system, originally established in bovids and later adapted to cervids, are substantiated and critically discussed in the light of recent attempts to invalidate the system. Eurasian mountain reindeer, North American barren-ground caribou, Svalbard reindeer and Victoria Island caribou are seasonally adaptable, opportunistic ruminants of the intermediate feeding type but the long evolutionary sepatation of Svalbard reindeer has modified several morphological features for winter survival without lichen, resulting in better adaptation to fibrous forage. Muskoxen, despite their seasonal selectivity, are typical grass and roughage eaters with extremely long mean retention time. Detailed data on the entire digestive system from muzzle to anus on both species are still insufficient and extended studies are worthwhile for understanding their nutritional niche and feeding adaptations.


1996 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. L. Gerhart ◽  
R. G. White ◽  
R. D. Cameron ◽  
D. E. Russell

We determined seasonal changes in body mass and composition of arctic caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) in relation to age and reproductive status. Chemical composition was determined for 37 caribou calves from the Central Arctic Herd ranging from 1 to 134 days of age and for 15 adult females collected from the same herd in October, May, and July. Body composition of 5 fetuses from the Central Arctic Herd, 13 calves from the Porcupine Herd, and 10 captive male reindeer (R. t. tarandus) was determined for comparison. Between October 1989 and May 1990, body fat and protein of adult females declined by maxima of 45 and 29%, respectively; an additional 32% of fat was lost between May and July. Mobilization of large amounts of fat and protein suggests winter undernutrition. Chemical composition and growth patterns of calves did not differ between the herds. The growth rate of Central Arctic Herd calves was high during the first 28 d post partum (402 g/d), but both growth rate and fatness declined between 4 and 6 weeks of age (to 306 and −18.3 g/d, respectively), perhaps in response to insect harassment. Birth masses of males and females did not differ, but by autumn, male calves were 9.1 kg heavier than females. Chemical components (water, fat, protein, ash) were highly correlated with body mass, ingesta-free body mass, and carcass mass. Percentages of fat and water were inversely related, but the intercept decreased with age. Marked seasonal hypertrophy of liver and kidneys was noted in caribou, suggesting the presence of mobilizable protein reserves. Seasonal changes in organ masses may also reflect variations in metabolic activity and nutrient intake.


2019 ◽  
pp. 674-698
Author(s):  
Catrina Johnson ◽  
Robert Corruccini ◽  
Motier Daniel Becque ◽  
Wanki Moon ◽  
Kolapo Ajuwon ◽  
...  

BMI, a ratio of weight over height, is a culturally-biased tool imposed upon the scientific, academic and medical communities as an errant measure of obesity across ethnicity. Body Mass Index (BMI) relates mass (g) to a relative fat distribution with regards to height. Its genesis is from the actuarially derived and ethnically exclusive height and weight tables that promote the fictional notion of inter-ethnic ideal weights that would be later adopted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a competent measure of adiposity. Best practice, movement towards individualized medicine and deployment of effective models that impact the diabetes epidemic and its related precursors like insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome, requires terminal use of BMI, a biologically meaningless and crude indicator of obesity, in favor of  effective and culturally competent non-relative body composition evaluation of genetically determined adiposity that untenably compares values among groups. African Americans are among the increasingly affected groups for diabetes and posses unique composition variation requiring proper intra-cultural evaluation independent of inter-ethnic Eurocentric assumptions that over assesses obesity risk. Incorporating use of 4C models to evaluate adiposity and assess risk for diabetic predisposition and onset provides an effective unbiased assessment of the cultural components inherent within body composition variation among ethnicity, age, gender. Obesity and type II diabetes onset and pre-disposition is assessed phenotypically, in creation of a body mass profile among African and African American groups, using 4C model, photography, anthropometry, somatotype and genetic evaluation. Environmental obeseogenic cultural factors are also explored.


2004 ◽  
Vol 287 (1) ◽  
pp. H414-H418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy E. Alvarez ◽  
Tasha P. Ballard ◽  
Stacy D. Beske ◽  
Kevin P. Davy

We tested the hypothesis that muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) would not differ in subcutaneously obese (SUBOB) and nonobese (NO) men with similar levels of abdominal visceral fat despite higher plasma leptin concentrations in the former. We further hypothesized that abdominal visceral fat would be the strongest body composition- or regional fat distribution-related correlate of MSNA among these individuals. To accomplish this, we measured MSNA (via microneurography), body composition (via dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry), and abdominal fat distribution (via computed tomography) in 15 NO (body mass index ≤ 25 kg/m2; 22.4 ± 1.4 yr) and 9 SUBOB (25 ≤ body mass index ≤ 35 kg/m2; 23.4 ± 2.1 yr) sedentary men. As expected, body mass (94 ± 4 vs. 71 ± 2 kg), total fat mass (25 ± 2 vs. 12 ± 1 kg), and abdominal subcutaneous fat (307 ± 36 vs. 132 ± 12 cm2) were significantly higher in the SUBOB group compared with NO peers. However, the level of abdominal visceral fat did not differ significantly in the two groups (69 ± 7 vs. 55 ± 5 cm2). MSNA was not different between SUBOB and NO men (23 ± 3 vs. 24 ± 2 bursts/min; P > 0.05, respectively) despite ∼2.6-fold higher ( P < 0.05) plasma leptin concentration in the SUBOB men. Furthermore, abdominal visceral fat was the only body composition- or regional fat distribution-related correlate ( r = 0.45; P < 0.05) of MSNA in the pooled sample. In addition, abdominal visceral fat was related to MSNA in NO ( r = 0.58; P = 0.0239) but not SUBOB ( r = 0.39; P = 0.3027) men. Taken together with our previous observations, our findings suggest that the relation between obesity and MSNA is phenotype dependent. The relation between abdominal visceral fat and MSNA was evident in NO but not in SUBOB men and at levels of abdominal visceral fat below the level typically associated with elevated cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk. Our observations do not support an obvious role for leptin in contributing to sympathetic neural activation in human obesity and, in turn, are inconsistent with the concept of selective leptin resistance.


2015 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-93
Author(s):  
Slavica Shubeska-Stratrova ◽  
Snezana Markovik-Temelkova ◽  
Goran Petrovski

AbstractIntroduction. Body composition and body fat distribution show difference in women with Cushing's syndrome (CS) compared to healthy control women (C) with almost equal body mass index (BMI) (28.89±3.53kg/m2vs. 29.39±4.04kg/m2) and they were compared with DXA.Methods. Total and regional fat mass (FM), FM%, tissue mass (TM), TM%, android FM (A), gynoid FM (G), lean body mass (LBM), bone mineral density (BMD) and content (BMC) were determined as well as their relationships in 10 CS and 10 C women.Results. Regional FM, FM%, TM and TM% values were not different between CS and C except for arm TM % (45.06±3.1% vs. 40.23±6.29%) (p<0.043). Arms+legs/trunk TM and FM ratio were significantly lower in CS compared to C (p<0.0001). Arms/A (1.1±0.12), legs/A (3±0.41) and legs/trunk TM ratios (0.52±0.07) were significantly lower in CS compared to C (1.3±0.13) (p<0.002), (4.29 ±0.67) (p<0.0001) and (0.69±0.09) (p<0.0001). Legs/A (2.57±0.73), legs/trunk (0.48±0.13) and arms+legs/trunk FM ratio (0.66±0.14) in CS were significantly lower compared to C [(4.2±1.16; 0.71±0.12 (p<0.001) and 0.89±0.14 (p<0.002)]. A/GTM (0.67±0.1) and A/G FM ratio (0.72± 0.2) in CS were significantly higher compared to C (0.48±0.05) (p<0.0001) and (0.46±0.09) (p<0.001). Legs LBM in CS 10.8±1.95kg was lower compared to C 12.7±2.1 kg (p<0.046). Only spine BMD value in CS (0.89±0.09 kg/cm2) was lower compared to C (0.94±0.12 kg/cm2) (p<0.017).Conclusion. Central to peripheral regional TM, FM and LBM ratios differentiated significantly and precisely patients with CS and C and confirmed extreme central obesity in CS.


1999 ◽  
Vol 77 (12) ◽  
pp. 1901-1907 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann C. Allaye Chan-McLeod ◽  
Robert G White ◽  
Don E Russell

We evaluated the effects of season and reproductive status on body fat and body protein masses of free-ranging female barren-ground caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti). Body fat mass fluctuated markedly during the year (by a factor of at least 2) in both reproductive classes, but whereas maximum fatness occurred in autumn (September-November) in nonbreeding females, it did not occur until late winter (March-April) in breeding females. Seasonal changes in dry body protein mass were relatively modest, with annual maxima averaging only 31-43% higher than annual minima. Moreover, seasonal differences between the reproductive classes were not significant except in November-December. Absolute fat deposition by both breeding and nonbreeding females was highest in summer, though fat deposition increased relative to protein deposition in autumn. Between June and September, the primary deposition of body protein in breeding females contrasted with the primary deposition of body fat in nonbreeding females. As a result, breeding females were highly compromised in their fat deposition but not in their protein deposition, which approximated levels in nonlactating females. Differences in body composition between breeding and nonbreeding females were highest in autumn and lowest in early spring because of divergence in summer and convergence in winter.


Rangifer ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracy Davison ◽  
Judy Williams

An aerial population survey of Peary caribou (Rangifer tarandus pearyi) and muskoxen (Ovibus moschatus) on Victoria Island, Northwest Territories, was conducted in July 2010. The population estimate of adult Peary caribou was 150 ± 104 (95% Confidence Interval [CI]) was not significantly different than the 2005 estimate of 66 ± 61 (P < 0.05). There was also an estimate of 430 ± 214 (95% CI) adult Dolphin-Union caribou (R. t. groenlandicus x pearyi) in the study area. However, these caribou represent only a small portion of the Dolphin-Union herd.  The population estimate of 11 442 ± 1637 (95% CI) adult muskoxen is not significantly different than the 2005 estimate of 12 062 ± 2156 (P < 0.05).


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