Research Article

Correlation of the traits of fur from different parts of the body in arctic foxes (Alopex lagopus L.)

Ryszard Cholewa, Jerzy Gedymin, Stanisław Socha

1. Acta Sci. Pol. Zootechnica, 12(4), 2013, 5‒16

Abstract. The aim of the study was to investigate into the possibility of evaluating arctic fox fur basing on the correlation of laboratory measurements of hairs collected from various parts of the coat. The material involved samples of prime fur hairs of 20 two-year-old females of the blue arctic fox, collected at the end of January. The samples were cut by the skin at six places of the body, namely: the head (between the ears), back (in the middle between the tail base and the neck base), the side (below the place of sampling located on the back), belly (mid between the base of the front limbs and the vulva), the tail (in the middle of the dorsal side), as well as the shank. The samples were subjected to macro- and microscopic measurements. The results indicate that fur coat of arctic foxes is more dense, longer, and usually more intensely colored on the back, as compared to the belly. The hairs on the head and the limbs are much shorter and contain more awn hairs. The results reveal a very weak correlation of the morphological fur characteristics between different parts of the body. It has been found that it is impossible to objectively evaluate the basic structural characteristics and the dark tops of hairs in the arctic fox on the basis of a sample of hair from a single part of the body.

Keywords: arctic fox, hair coat, structural and morphological characteristics of hairs, variability