A Comparison of Body Temperatures of Least Weasels and Wolverines

摘要

The wide range in size of species within the weasel family (from 35g to 18kg) makes a comparison of their body temperatures especially interesting. Also, weasels are excitable, rapid-moving and unusually alert; for this reason they could have a daily average body temperature which is higher than more sluggish species of mammals. In this paper we report the body temperatures at four times of the day, of 16 least weasels and four wolverines. The animal material consisted of: 16 least weasels, Mustela rixosa eskimo (Stone), maintained at least two months in captivity, captured at Point Barrow in summer, mean weight 46g. They were fed ad libidum on live or dead mice. After two months, they could no longer be maintained in the colony at the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory. As a contribution to the ongoing research programs of three universities, the 16 weasels were sacrificed at four times of the day with the following distribution of materials: blood to H. Ferguson, organs to R. Andrews, T sub b measurements by E. Folk.