The use of radiography for measurements of the medullary cavity in the metacarpal bone in the European roe deer Capreolus capreolus for assessment of ontogenetic quality – preliminary study

The objective was to verify the research hypothesis concerning a correlation between the surface area of the medullary bone and other fat indices and carcass weight. This study was also focused on identification of potential differences in the mean values of the fat parameters and carcass weight between the forest and field ecotypes of roe deer. The medullary cavity area was measured using the DIRA 200 program. Metacarpal bone III and the phalanges of the 2nd and 3rd fingers were measured as well. The investigations involved 38 females of the European roe deer Capreolus capreolus aged 3-5 years.The investigations revealed a negative statistically significant correlation between the surface area of the medullary cavity in metacarpal bone III and the kidney fat index KFI (rs = -0.483; p<0.05) and the weight of the perirenal adipose tissue (rs = -0.362; p<0.05). No correlation was shown between the area of the medullary cavity of metacarpal bone III and the doe carcass weight (rs = 0.093; ns). The size of the medullary cavity is an anatomical parameter that is not susceptible to cyclical changes in environmental conditions. As shown in this study, it is independent of the body weight and determines the amount of bone marrow and, hence, the amount of accumulated fat reserves. We believe that, besides biometric measurements, the surface area of the medullary cavity can be a good parameter for assessment of the ontogenetic quality of roe deer and for comparison of populations.