Determinación del índice de masa corporal en cuyes en base de sus variables morfométricas

Abstract

This research aimed to develop a regression model to predict body mass index using antemortem morphometric variables in guinea pigs (Cavia Porcellus). Fifty 21-day-old guinea pigs of the improved genotype from both sexes were used, divided into 25 females and 25 males, which were fed green fodder. The variables studied were: increase in body mass, head-tail length (thoracic circumference, abdominal circumference, upper arm circumference, and leg length), and weight. For the study, the guinea pigs were weighed every 15 days. The following morphometric measurements were taken: body length (BL), head length (HL), head width (HW), thoracic circumference (TC), abdominal circumference (AC), upper arm circumference (UAC), upper arm length (UAL), leg length (LL). Afterwards,15 guinea pigs were sacrificed at random. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests were applied. The results determined that the sex of the guinea pigs does not influence the weight because the males obtained a weight of 650.83g, while the females 645.80g; similarly, in terms of the length of the head-tail, there is no significant difference because the females reached a length of 27.8cm and the males 27.6cm. On the other hand, 63.4% of the variability of the body mass index (0.69) was determined, giving a good predictive result in the animal's weight and head-tail length during the sixth week, which is important data for future research.

Keywords: Guinea pigs, body condition index, body mass increase