SOME SOURCES OF VARIATION IN THE BLOOD SERA OF DEER (ODOCOILEUS) AS REVEALED BY STARCH GEL ELECTROPHORESIS

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Abstract
By starch gel electrophoresis the blood serum proteins of three subspecies of black-tailed deer, Odocoileus hemionus, and two subspecies of white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, have been examined. For two of these, both wild and pen reared animals were available. It is shown that there are significant differences between individuals of the same genotype, between certain age groups, between certain seasonal groups, and between the two species. In the black-tailed deer, captive rearing introduced an additional negatively migrating fraction. It is concluded that although there are significant differences associated with species and infraspecies category in this group of mammalian species, there are too many confusing influences to make the serum protein differences as determined by starch gel electrophoresis a useful tool of the systematist.