Variation of the Level of Steroid Hormonesin the Blood Plasma of Three Mustelide Species(Mammalia, Carnivora, Mustelidae) during the Annual Cycle

摘要

Three musteline species (Carnivora: Mustelidae) the polecat Mustela putorius, European mink M. lutre-ola, and American mink Neovison visonre differently related to one another phylogenetically but inhabit similar periaquatic biotops with similar food niches and feed on small rodents and amphibians. The European mink is a vulnerable species whose population density has been reducing in the past decades. Related species may play a role in this phenomenon, the mechanisms of which are intensely studied [1-3]. Members of Mustelidae often display a pronounced seasonal dynamics in physiological, behavioural, and population processes. Analysis of social behavior of some species revealed seasonal changes in their social structures [4, 5], and the annual dynamics of the behavioural elements underlying this structure has been quantitatively determined in the polecat [6].