Blood characteristics and volume in two rodents native to high altitude.

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Abstract
Some characteristics associated with the blood of two rodents native to high altitude, Citellus lateralis and Marmota flaviventris at the Bancroft laboratory (altitude, 3,800 m), were determined and compared to those of laboratory rats born and raised at 3,800 and 280 m. Both native rodents showed lower hemoglobin concentrations, erythrocyte counts, and hematocrit ratios than did the acclimatized rats. Hemoglobin content per cell was the same in the three species but the erythrocytes were slightly larger in the species native to high altitude. The volume of plasma and calculated volume of red blood cells on a body weight basis were larger in the marmots and squirrels, and these two species possessed hemoglobin dissociation curves far to the left of that of the acclimatized rats. The findings here agree with others-that many mammals native to high altitude do not possess polycythemia, and our results indicate that this is because of a higher plasma volume.

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