Fat Deposition in Spitzbergen Ptarmigan ( Lagopus mutus hyperboreus)

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. . Arctic Institute of North America is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Arctic. ABSTRACT. Fat depots and muscle lipids were measured in ptarmigan shot at Longyearbyen in fall and in spring. In the fall the ptarmigan weighed 740 g of which 100 g was dissectable fat and 11.5% of the pectoralis dry weight was lipid. In the spring the fat depots were almost absent and muscle lipid was halved. Neither Alaskan nor Scandinavian rock or willow ptarmigan show comparable fat depots, but the muscle lipid levels compare favourably with values obtained for Spitzbergen ptarmigan. Even larger fat depots were found in the Spitzbergen reindeer and fall fat deposition is most likely an important metabolic adaptation in high-arctic herbivores.