International
Journal of Zoology and Applied Biosciences
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ISSN: 2455-9571
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Volume 3, Issue 3, pp: 393-398, 2018
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  http://www.ijzab.com
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Research
Article
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TRICHO-TAXONOMIC
STUDY OF GUARD HAIRS OF THREE SPECIES OF BOVIDAE OF
SAURASHTRA REGION OF GUJARAT, INDIA
Vibhuti
B. Raval¹*, Bhupat B. Radadiya¹, Arun Kumar Roy Mahato2 and A. P. Singh3
1Biology
Department, Shree M. & N. Virani Science
College, Saurashtra University, Rajkot 360005, Gujarat, India 2Terrestrial
Ecology Division, Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology, Kachchh-370001,
Gujarat, India
3Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife
Circle, Dept. of Forests, Junagadh-362001, Gujarat,
India.
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Article History: Received
16th April 2018; Accepted 24th
April 2018; Published 25th May
2018
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 Abstract
Dorsal
guard hairs are very much important for identification of mammalian species.
The present study was carried out to identify one antelopine
and two bovine species, viz. Gazelle bennettii, Tetraceros quadricornis and Boselaphas tragocamelus under the family Bovidae based on macroscopic and microscopic
characteristics of dorsal guard hairs. Hair samples were collected from
captivity at Sakkarbaug Zoo-Junagadh
from the above mentioned animals for investigation. A total of thirty
randomly collected dorsal guard hairs of each species were studied using
light microscope with inbuilt camera facility. Cuticular
structures as well as medullary configuration of
hairs were studied carefully. The highest Medullary Index (0.81± 0.01 µm)
were recorded in Gazelle bennettii,
followed by T.
quadricornis (0.78 ± 0.02 µm) and lowest in B. tragocamelus
(0.62 ± 0.03 µm).
 Keywords:
Guard Hair, Bovidae, Saurashtra,
Gujarat, Cuticle, Medulla, Hairs.
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INTRODUCTION
The
significance of Tricho-taxonomic study is widely accepted
in the field of food habit analysis of predators and also in controlling
illegal trade of wildlife and its derivatives (De & Chakraborty, 2012). Identification of mammalian species with hairs has practical
applications in forensic science,
taxonomy, paleontology, zooarchaeology, anthropology and ecology
(De Marinis & Asprea, 2006). Analysis of scats of carnivores predators may help in identifying
prey species through hair structure as this technique is non-destructive and
scats are easy to collect throughout the year. It will ultimately help in
describing diet of large carnivores. It
may be noted that wild and domestic ungulates represent the main
component of medium and large size predators
found in Saurashtra region of Gujarat, which is very famous habitat for the
Asiatic lion. Mammalian hairs play a significant role
in thermoregulation, waterproofing and protection from the variety of pollution. There are mainly
two
types of hair found in mammalians viz., guard hairs which are usually thick and
bristle and fine hairs which are curled and comparatively thin (Lee et al., 2014). The identification of species
through the hair characteristics were initially performed by Hausman (1920). The
tricho-taxonomy
for identification of mammalian species through various microscopic characteristics
of hairs is well accepted for almost a century (Tridico, 2005). The cuticular
scale and medullary structures
of
hair have been
widely used in various disciplines like wildlife biology, ethology,
conservation, ecology, veterinary and forensic science (Lungu et al., 2007).
The peculiar medullary index for each species is very
much useful for species identification/ confirmation and also useful to
identify the prey species of large and medium sized carnivores through their
scat analysis. The scale count and scale pattern are also found
to be important to identify the species
with the help of all macroscopic microscopic features of the
hair (Italiya
et
al., 2017).
The
study on the hairs of different species of mammals were made by many workers
viz., Hausman (1920), Adorjan & Kolenosky (1969), Moor et al. (1974), Brunner & Coman (1974), Koppikar & Sabnis (1976), Wallis (1993), De (1993), De Marinis & Asprea (2006), Bahuguna (2010) and Joshi et al. (2012). The dorsal guard hairs of Boselaphus tragocamelus and Gazella bennettii was studied by De & Chakraborty (2012), Kamalakannan (2015) and Kamalakannan
(2017).
Saurashtra region is the only habitat for Asiatic lion (Panthera leo) which is
mainly dependent upon wild and domestic ungulate species as a prey (Mukherjee et al., 1994). The identification of
prey species through scat analysis, collected from the movement ranges of
Asiatic lion in Saurashtra peninsula is very much important
for conservation of this species in the area. It is expected that present study
will help in identification of mammalian species from hair samples and also
help in enforcement of wildlife Acts to check illegal trades.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study has been conducted on dorsal guard hairs
collected from one species of antelopine and two
species of bovine under the family bovidae in the Sakkarbaug Zoo, Junagadh district
of Gujarat. The guard hairs were selected from one antelopine
species and two bovine species belonging to under the family Bovidae (Table 1). Among the studied species, Gazella bennettii is
Schedule II and Tetracerus quadricornis
is schedule-I and Boselaphus tragocamelus
is Schedule-III species as per the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Table 1. Systematic
position and conservation status of three wild ruminants.
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Classification
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Common
name
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Scientific
name
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IUCN, 2017
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IWPA, 1972
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CITES
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Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Sub-family: Antilopinae
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Chinkara
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Gazella bennettii
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LC
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Schedule-II
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NA
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Four-horned antelope
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Tetracerus quadricornis
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VU
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Schedule-I
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III
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Blue bull
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Boselaphus tragocamelus
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LC
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Schedule-III
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NA
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LC - Least
concerned; VU – Vulnerable.
The hair samples of scats collected
from different pockets of Saurashtra region were
compared with hair samples collected from above three species of Sakkarbaug Zoo, Junagadh. Each
hair samples was separately labeled for microscopic examination. A total of
thirty (30) hairs samples of each species were properly washed in running water
for several times to remove dirt and were preserved in acetone for overnight.
Ten numbers
of hairs of each species were randomly taken up for microscopic examination. The
hairs were embedded in gelatin layered microscopic slide (or cellulose sheet)
for obtaining casts /impression of surface structure of hairs. Then the slide
was observed under Fluorescence light microscope with inbuilt measurement
software and attached camera for capturing images in finer scale. Photographs
of surface structures were taken at first in 10 X magnifications and then in 40X magnification. Other characteristics such as Cuticular structure, medullary
configuration, scale pattern and cross-sectional details were studied after (Brunner & Coman, 1974). Structural
nomenclature in respect of surface structure and medullary
configuration is followed after (Brunner & Coman, 1974;
Moor et al., 1974).
The macroscopic features of the
hair shaft were recorded and necessary measurement was noted in details. Microscopic
features of medulla and cuticular scales were studied
thoroughly and recorded separately in the data sheet. On the basis of all macroscopic
as well as microscopic structures of dorsal guard hairs, identification of
species can be made easily.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
The macroscopic features
such as colour of hairs, diameter, length, band
pattern, hair profile etc. and microscopic characteristics viz., medullar
pattern, scale pattern, margin of scales, width of scales, medullar index and
surface smoothness of guard hair of three wild bovine species are given in
table 2. Medullar pattern, scale pattern, colour of
hairs and hair surface of these three species are recorded more or less very
similar. The blue bull has wide and simple type of medulla whereas chinkara has a wide medulla and four horned antelope has
wide cellular lattice type medulla. All the three species have similar type of
scale pattern as well. The quantitative values (mean ± SD) of hair anatomical
features like hair shaft and medulla are summarized in tables 3.
Medullary
Index (MI) i.e. the ratio between width of medulla and width of cortex is one
of the important parameters for taxonomic study of mammalian hairs and it is
varied between different species of mammals. In the present investigation, the
mean medullary index (MI) was recorded highest in chinkara (0.81 ± 0.01µm), followed by four-horned
antelope (0.78 ± 0.02 µm), and lowest medullary index
value is found in bluebull (0.62 ± 0.03 µm) (Table
3). It has also been shown in figure 1. The fraction of hair
shaft within medulla was recorded highest in chinkara
(79.41%), followed by four-horned antelope (77.36%) and lowest in blue bull
(61.54%).
Table 2. Morphological features of hair of the
three wild species of the Family-Bovidae.
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Sr.
No.
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Species
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Medulla pattern
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Scale pattern
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Colour of hair
(naked eye)
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Hair surface
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1
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Chinkara
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Wide medulla lattice
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Regular and irregular wave
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White-brown/black
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Smooth
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2
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Four-horned
antelope
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Wide cellular lattice
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Regular and irregular wave
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White/brown
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Smooth
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3
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Blue
bull
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Wide and simple medulla
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Regular and irregular wave
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White-brown / black
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Smooth
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Table 3. Physical and microscopical
characters of hair of the three species of Bovid.
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Sr. No.
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Species
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Mean length of hair (cm)
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Mean diameter of shaft (µm)
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Mean diameter of medulla (µm)
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Medullary index (mi)
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Standard error
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1
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Chinkara
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4.33
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34
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27
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0.81 ± 0.01 µm
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0.006
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2
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Four-horned antelope
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2.32
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53
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41
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0.78 ± 0.02 µm
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0.01
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3
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Blue bull
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3.00
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39
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24
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0.62 ± 0.03 µm
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0.003
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Figure 1. Medullary
index of the three different wild bovine species with standard error (%).
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Figure 2. Scale (left) and medulla (right)
pattern of
the hair of Gazella bennettii.
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Figure 3. Scale (left) and medulla (right)
pattern of the hair of Tetracerus quasricornis.
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Figure 4. Scale (left)
and medulla (right) pattern of the hair of Boselaphus
tragocamelus.
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De & Chakraborty (2012) recorded the medullary
index (0.84 µm (± 0.025 µm) in Boselaphus tragocamelus and
0.93 µm (± 0.003 µm) in Gazella bennettii, which
was much higher than the present investigation. The scale pattern and medulla pattern of studied species is shown in
figure 2 to figure 4.
The
present investigation shows that the mean length of hair of G. bennettii
is 43.3 mm (± 3.32) which is more than the length of hair (21.09 ± 2.60)
recorded by De & Chakraborty (2012) and 18 to 22 mm observed by Koppikar
& Sabnis (1976). Similarly, the hair length of B. tragocamelus is recorded as 30 mm (±
2.21) which is less than the length of hair (55- 94 mm) recorded by Koppikar
& Sabnis (1976) and more than the length of hair (23- 27 mm)
recorded by De & Chakraborty, (2012)The lowest diameter of hair shaft recorded in G. bennettii
is 34 µm which is lower than the lowest diameter (45 ± 3.45) observed by De & Chakraborty (2012) and lowest diameter (54 µm) recorded by Koppikar
& Sabnis (1976). Similarly average diameter of hair shaft (39 µm) in B. tragocamelusis observed in the present study is
much lower than the diameter (120 µm) and (140 µm) recorded by De & Chakraborty (2012) and Koppikar
& Sabnis (1976) respectively.
The variation in length of hairs among
the same species may be due to the species distributed in different
geographical areas and ecological condition as observed by De (1993) and De & Chakraborty (2012).
CONCLUSION
Physical
characters, surface structure and medullary
configuration are very much significant for identification of various mammalian
species. This study may also be useful in forensic science and in detection of
crime in illegal trades of wildlife and its derivatives. The present work
provides complete combination of characters such as hair colour,
texture, cuticle scale type and medulla along with hair length, shaft diameter,
medullary index and other measurements are taken into
consideration for identification of a species, as the single character does not
help for species identity. The above three wild bovid show regular wave pattern
cuticular scale is observed in middle where as
irregular wave type scale is found at end portion (proximal or distal) of the
hair. On the basis of medulla type only blue bull shows wide and simple medulla
type.
Tricho-taxonomic
studies of G. bennettii
and B. tragocamelus
were done by several workers. But very meager information is available on
the hair study of T. quadricornis.
This study will also be helpful in scat analysis of various large and medium
size predator species and it may be consider as baseline data for further
intensive study for conservation of wild species found in this region.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Authors are
grateful to Bhupat B. Radadiya
of Shree M. & N. Virani Science College, Rajkot for
his encouragement and supports for the study. Our sincerely thank to the
laboratory in-charge and staffs like Ashvinkumar Italiya, V.O. Yadav, M.S. Chand and M. Joshi for their help during the laboratory
investigation of sample. Authors are also thankful to Vala,
Director, Sakkarbaug Zoo, Junagadh for his permission to collect hair samples
of captive individuals of these species and his encouragements. The first
author is grateful to her father for the company in the field investigation of
scat samples.
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