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1 December 2009 Transabdominal Ultrasonography as a Monitoring Tool for Pregnancy in Alpine Marmots (Marmota marmota)
Sascha Knauf, Cornelia Exner, Rainer Hospes, Gerhard Heldmaier, Axel Wehrend
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Abstract

In the wild, Alpine marmots (Marmota marmota) spend most of their time in underground burrows. Thus the observation of reproduction biology during mating season, gestation, and the early juvenile development is extremely challenging. An ultrasonographic follow-up of pregnancies in captive alpine marmots illustrates the characteristic findings of different gestational phases. The first ultrasonographic proof for a pregnancy was detected on day −25 (day 0 defined as partus). At day −18, first heartbeats were visualized, followed by spontaneous fetal movements on day −14. At day −7, the mineralization of the skeletal system was demonstrated. It was possible to evaluate and monitor the integrity of pregnancy. Ultrasonography is a noninvasive, alternative tool to the classical verification of pregnancy in marmots by progesterone measurement from serum samples.

Sascha Knauf, Cornelia Exner, Rainer Hospes, Gerhard Heldmaier, and Axel Wehrend "Transabdominal Ultrasonography as a Monitoring Tool for Pregnancy in Alpine Marmots (Marmota marmota)," Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 40(4), 796-798, (1 December 2009). https://doi.org/10.1638/2009-0013.1
Received: 23 January 2009; Published: 1 December 2009
KEYWORDS
alpine marmot
fetus
Marmota marmota
pregnancy
progesterone
Ultrasonography
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