Organ Weight: Body Weight Ratios in the Mongolian Gerbil, Meriones unguiculatus

Abstract

The following were recorded for 17 Mongolian gerbils,Meriones unguiculatus, which varied in weight between weanling size and almost 100 grams: body lengths, body weights, organ weights of the thyroid, kidney, adrenal, brain, pituitary, lung, testis, spleen, heart, eye, and liver. Results were analyzed graphically and statistically. The thyroid, kidney, adrenal, brain, pituitary, lung, and eye weights vary with respect to body weight in an allometric fashion. The heart, spleen, and body length vary with respect to body weight in a linear manner, following the ordinary equationy=a+bx, wherey is the organ weight in milligrams or the body length in millimeters andx is the body weight in grams. The prediction equation which best expresses the relationship of the testis, and the liver to body weight is logy=a+x logb, wherey is the organ weight andx is the body weight, It is suggested that the use of organ weight: body weight ratios may be valuable in evaluating the relationship between certain experimental situations and the biological response of a test organism.