The effect of elevation on haematocrit in Ethiopian rodents

Title:

The effect of elevation on haematocrit in Ethiopian rodents

Creator:

Lövy, Matěj , Lavrenchenko, Leonid A. , Kostin, Danila S., Martynov, Alexey A., Šumbera, Radim , Bryja, Josef , and Okrouhlík, Jan

Identifier:

https://cdk.lib.cas.cz/client/handle/uuid:a18a53ff-9b62-4b2c-9082-06b2ed8ce1ce
uuid:a18a53ff-9b62-4b2c-9082-06b2ed8ce1ce
doi:10.25225/jvb.20011

Subject:

Stenocephalemys, Rodentia, elevational gradient, Ethiopian highlands, and blood parameters

Type:

model:article and TEXT

Format:

počítač and online zdroj

Description:

Key adaptations enabling mammals to cope with oxygen deficiency at high elevations relate to oxygen transfer into the blood. Among others, the efficiency of this mechanism depends on haematocrit (Hct, the volumetric fraction of red blood cells in blood). Although blood of high-elevation mammals is usually characterised by normal or slightly increased Hct, there are contradictory findings from studies along different elevational gradients. The aim of this study was to explore variability of Hct at both inter- and intraspecific levels in six rodent species from lower and higher elevations of Choke Mountain in Ethiopia. We found that Stenocephalemys sp. A from higher elevation had higher Hct than its congener Stenocephalemys albipes from lower elevation and a similar but weaker tendency was observed intraspecifically in Lophuromys simensis. Furthermore, Hct among four species occupying the high-elevation Afroalpine zone was comparable, and higher than in animals from lower elevations. Higher Hct in the three Afroalpine specialists probably contributes to local adaptations for life in high elevation environments under hypobaric hypoxia.

Language:

English

Rights:

http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
policy:public

Coverage:

1-11

Source:

Journal of Vertebrate Biology | 2020 Volume:69 | Number:2

Harvested from:

CDK

Metadata only:

false