Bone Growth as an Age Criterion in the Cottontail Rabbit

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Abstract
The progressive ossification of bones as a criterion for distinguishing young-of-the-year from adults was examined in 52 Sylvilagus floridanus mearnsi collected through the autumn and winter of 1944-45. Ossification is expressed by the gradual disappearance of epiphyseal cartilage and its replacement by bony material. A forelimb of each rabbit was examined by standard X-ray technique to show the extent of cartilage. A humerus of each specimen was removed and stained for 12 to 24 hrs. in an aqueous stain of 10 mg. acid fuchsin or 25 mg. nile blue per liter to differentiate cartilage from bone for comparison with the X-ray method. This cartilage was found to persist in the shoulder regions of some young rabbits (presumably the latest born young) until Jan. and probably persists in the earliest born young through Nov. Further verification is needed of the safe terminal date for age classification.

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