Bandeira Victor, Virgós Emilio, Azevedo Alexandre, Carvalho João, Cunha Mónica V, Fonseca Carlos
Department of Biology & Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar (CESAM), University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, Aveiro, Portugal.
Departamento de Biología, Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Área Biodiversidad y Conservación, Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología (ESCET), Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, c/Tulipán, s/n, Móstoles, Madrid, Spain.
Curr Zool. 2019 Feb;65(1):11-20. doi: 10.1093/cz/zoy031. Epub 2018 Apr 12.
The Egyptian mongoose ( 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.
埃及獴（林奈，1758年）是一种中型食肉动物，在过去30年里，其在伊比利亚半岛经历了显著的地理扩张。在本研究中，我们调查了该物种中与物种相关的因素和非生物因素与脾脏重量（作为免疫能力的指标）之间的关联。我们评估了身体状况、性别、年龄、季节和环境条件与为508个被猎杀标本确定的脾脏重量之间的关系。我们的结果表明，性别和季节的影响超过了所有其他变量，包括身体状况。雄性的脾脏重量高于雌性，并且在春季更有可能发现较重的脾脏，这与由于交配、怀孕、分娩和哺乳而导致的繁殖投入最高时期相吻合。再加上身体状况没有影响，我们的研究结果表明，该物种脾脏重量的变化主要受与繁殖相关的生活史特征影响，而不是整体能量供应、冬季免疫增强或能量分配效应，并促使进一步针对该主题展开研究。
