Abstract
POPULATION studies of the wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in New Zealand and elsewhere have emphasized the need for reliable methods of age determination. Since weight is a satisfactory criterion of the age of young rabbits up to 3–4 months, when they become sexually mature1. the sequence of epiphyseal fusion of bones was examined in an attempt to determine the age of older animals. This work was initiated by Watson and Tyndale-Biscoe2, who found that the epiphysis at the head of the tibia fused at 41 weeks (range 33–44 weeks). Further work by Tyndale-Biscoe3 (and unpublished work) showed that the epiphyses of all other long bones unite at about the same age or earlier than do those at the head of the tibia, but that the epiphyses of the vertebræ do not fuse to the centrum until later in life, and could therefore provide an age criterion for older animals.
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References
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TAYLOR, R. Age Determination in Wild Rabbits. Nature 184, 1158–1159 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1038/1841158b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1841158b0
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