抄録
To clarify the relationships between 10 inbred strains of rats (ACI, BN, DON, IS, LEW, TM, W, WAG, WKYO, and ZI) and to identify each strain, principal component and discriminant analyses were carried out using 13 mandible measurements. (1) Principal component analysis revealed that mandibles were large in BN, LEW, and TM ; small in ACI, IS, and DON. The mandibles of W and WAG were shorter and fairly higher. The shape of the muscular process is acute and projecting posteriorly in BN, IS, and WAG ; obtuse and less projecting in LEW, TM, and WKYO. The morphometrical relationships between strains by the principal component analysis accorded with the Mahalanobis distance between strains based on the same mandibular measurements. (2) Discriminant analysis showed the probability of erroneous discrimination to be 0% (0/204) in both sexes. These results indicate that strain differences are found in the size and shape of mandibles, and that multivariate analysis using mandible measurements is available for strain identification of laboratory rats.
