INHERITANCE OF GROWTH AND FORM IN THE MOUSE .5. ALLOMETRIC GROWTH

  • 1 January 1979
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 43  (1) , 47-57
Abstract
A complete diallel cross, including inbreds and reciprocals, was made among 6 inbred lines of mice. Body weight, tail length and tail width were measured at ages of 1-12 wk. The parameters of 4 longitudinal allometric relations, y = bxa, were determined for each mouse: tail length vs. body weight for wk 1-9 and for wk 1-12, and tail width vs. body weight for the same periods. The estimated value of a was taken as 1 variable and the value of log y corresponding to a weight of 12 g or 15 g for 9 or 12 pairs of measurements was taken as the other. The allometric equation appears to provide a satisfactory empirical description of the relative growth of tail length and width vs. body weight. The diallel analysis suggests a low heritability for a for both sexes and both periods and an intermediate heritability for the location parameters.