Re: [Histonet] skeletochronology question

From:Philip Oshel



Bone acts as a calcium reserve for metabolism, so maybe calcium 
resorption then redeposition, depending on time of year? E.g., times 
of low food, the critters use bone calcium to meet metabolic needs.
Any correlations between sex and "age", distinctness of the bands, or 
width of the bands? Females would have greater need for calcium 
during ovipositing, so should show greater resorption/redeposition 
effects than males.
Do the bands correlate with seasons as opposed to calendar years?

Phil

>hello histoland,
>
>A student and I recently did some skeletochronology on some 
>salamanders.  We found a segment of animals with no growth lines (< 
>1 yr) and then animals up to 11 yrs old.  There was no relationship 
>between age and body size.  Still, the growth rings were present in 
>the bone.  Differences in growth between years was evident, but 
>clearly they were not growing!  This seems to suggest that the 
>growth rings are not useful for modeling growth in this species, or 
>that they reach maximum growth within their first year.
>
>ANy thoughts???
>
>
>Malcolm L. McCallum
>Assistant Professor
>Department of Biological Sciences
>Texas A&M University Texarkana
>2600 Robison Rd.
>Texarkana, TX 75501
>O: 1-903-223-3134
>H: 1-903-791-3843
>Homepage: https://www.eagle.tamut.edu/faculty/mmccallum/index.html
>VISIT HERPETOLOGICAL CONSERVATION AND BIOLOGY www.herpconbio.org 
>
>A New Journal Published in Partnership with Partners in Amphibian 
>and Reptile Conservation
>and the World Congress of Herpetology.
>Summer Teaching Schedule & Office Hours:
>Monday-Thursday:
>      Statistics (Math 453) 4-5:50 pm
>      Office Hours: 3-4 pm
>
>"Set high standards for yourself, but don't judge others by those standards,"
>- Gary Emmert (University of Memphis)
-- 
Philip Oshel
Microscopy Facility Supervisor
Biology Department
024C Brooks Hall
Central Michigan University
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859

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