Weight Variation in Adrenal Glands of the Mongoose in Hawaii

Abstract

Gross morphology and weight characteristics are described for adrenal glands in a population of the small Indian mongoose, Herpestes auropunctatus (Hodgson). Mongoose adrenals are anatomically similar to those in the cat and dog, and may be typical of those in the Order Carnivora. The right gland is about 80% as large as the left. Relative adrenal weight decreases in all age and sex classes as body weight increases . Adrenals are only slightly larger in young females . than in young males, but at sexual maturity they enlarge greatly in females and remain much larger than those in males. In lactating females the adrenals are significantly larger than those in all other classes of adult females. There seems to be no major effect of sexual maturity on adrenal size in males. Over a three-year period the population demonstrated a remarkable stability of adrenal gland weight in the face of increasing drought and decreasing numbers. Minor adrenal response to seasonal fecundity, environmental stress, and variations in population density may be a character of carnivores quite in contrast to that observed in the highly sensitive rodents.