Directional Asymmetry in the Limbs, Skull and Pelvis of the Silver Fox (V. vulpes)

doi:10.1002/jmor.10890

From:

J Morphol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 March 15.

Published in final edited form as:

J Morphol. 2010 December; 271(12): 1501–1508.

doi: 10.1002/jmor.10890

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TABLE 6

Asymmetry during early postnatal growth age

Limb metric	2 Months	P value	3 Months	P value	7 Months	Adult
Femur
Length	1.2^a		0.9^b	^**	1.5^a	1.2
Cortical thick.	−15^a		ns		ns	−8.9
Tibia
Length	n.s		n.s	***	2.1	0.2
Cortical thick.	−7^c		−11^a	*	ns	−6
Metatarsal
Length	−1.7^b		−1.9^b	*	ns	0.2
Humerus
Length	n.s	***	−2.3^a		−1.4^a	−1.4
Cortical thick.	ns		ns		ns	4.8
Radius
Length	1.4^a		1.1^a	^**	1.5^a	1.6
Cortical thick.	ns	^**	11^b		15^a	−0.4
Ulna
Length	0.6^b		1.2^a		2^a	1.6
Cortical thick.	−12^a	***	6^c		16^a	−3.6

^**Asymmetry values derived from radiographs of 45 foxes at ages two months, three months and seven months. Values for limb length and cortical thickness are presented and compared with adult values from Tables 1 and and2.2. %LR = (x₁ − x_r)/mean(x_r,x₁) × 100. The sign of the %LR indicates the direction of the asymmetry as Left minus Right (+, L>R; −, R>L). The significance of the paired T-test was:

^aP>0.001;

^bP<0.01;

^cP<0.05;

ns not significant (DA could not be demonstrated). Adult values were all significant (see Tables 1 and and2).2). Three levels of significant change in asymmetry between the time intervals 2–3 months and 3–4 months are indicated (*<0.05, ** <0.01, ***<0.001).