Sex and season explain spleen weight variation in the Egyptian mongoose
Bandeira, Victor (University of Aveiro. Department of Biology & Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar (CESAM))
Virgós, Emilio (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. Departamento de Biologia, Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica)
Azevedo, Alexandre (Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar (Porto, Portugal))
Carvalho, João (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals)
Cunha, Mónica V (Universidade de Lisboa. BioISI-Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute)
Fonseca, Carlos (University of Aveiro. Department of Biology & Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar (CESAM))

Fecha:	2018
Resumen:	The Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon Linnaeus, 1758) is a medium-sized carnivore that experienced remarkable geographic expansion over the last 3 decades in the Iberian Peninsula. In this study, we investigated the association of species-related and abiotic factors with spleen weight (as a proxy for immunocompetence) in the species. We assessed the relationship of body condition, sex, age, season, and environmental conditions with spleen weight established for 508 hunted specimens. Our results indicate that the effects of sex and season outweigh those of all other variables, including body condition. Spleen weight is higher in males than in females, and heavier spleens are more likely to be found in spring, coinciding with the highest period of investment in reproduction due to mating, gestation, birth, and lactation. Coupled with the absence of an effect of body condition, our findings suggest that spleen weight variation in this species is mostly influenced by life-history traits linked to reproduction, rather than overall energy availability, winter immunoenhancement, or energy partitioning effects, and prompt further research focusing on this topic.
Derechos:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Lengua:	Anglès
Documento:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Materia:	Body condition ; Carnivore ; Herpestes ichneumon ; Iberian Peninsula ; Mongoose ; Spleen weight
Publicado en:	Current Zoology, Vol. 65 (april 2018) , p. 11-20, ISSN 2396-9814

DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoy031
PMID: 30697234

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