Fossil Shell Flour supplementation in the diet of Dohne Merino rams: effects on feed acceptability and heat stress tolerance
- Authors: Mwanda, Lwazi https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9503-6150
- Date: 2020-02
- Subjects: Sheep--Feeding and feeds , Animal feeding , Fossils
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/22567 , vital:52464
- Description: The objective of the current study was to evaluate the effects of feeding Dohne Merino rams with various inclusion levels of Fossil Shell Flour (FSF) as an additive supplement on feed preference and heat tolerance response of Dohne Merino rams. The FSF is used as an animal feed additive and is known to be rich in minerals. A total of twenty-four Dohne Merino rams (average 19.8 ± 0.43 kg body weight) were used to determine the feed preference of varying inclusion levels fossil shell flour (0g FSF/kg, 20g FSF/kg, 40g FSF/kg and 60g FSF/kg). The preference was assessed using feed intake and coefficient of preference. The feed intake, co-efficient of preference and physical attributes of feed (such as colour, smell and texture) was measured. The feed intake and coefficient of preference were higher in rams supplemented 60g FSF/kg (P < 0.05). The physical attributes of the experimental diets were adjudged based on the colour, smell and texture. The colour of experimental diets were brown in 0g FSF/kg while in 20g FSF/kg, 40g FSF/kg and 60g FSF/kg the colour of experimental diets were light brown (P< 0.05). All the experimental diets had a pleasant smell (P< 0.05). The texture of diets with 0g FSF/kg was moderately firm while diets 20g FSF/kg, 40g FSF/kg and 60g FSF/kg had a firm texture. The order of preference of diets supplemented with fossil shell flour in terms of feed intake by Dohne Merino rams was: 60g FSF/kg > 40g FSF/kg > 20gFSF/kg > 0g FSF/kg. In the second experiment, a total of twenty-four (n=24) Dohne Merino rams of about 8 to 9 months old, weighing 19.8 ± 0.43 kg were confined in individual pens for a period of 100 days. The rams were subjected to four varying inclusion levels of fossil shell flour (0g/kg, 20g/kg, 40g/kg and 60g/kg. Water and feed intake were recorded throughout the period of successive feeding. Blood samples were collected on days 0, 45 and 90. The parameters studied included the average daily water intake (ADWI), average feed intake (ADFI), skin temperature (ST), respiration rate (RR), pulse rate (PR), rectal temperature (RT), total plasma protein (TPP), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV). The inclusion levels of FSF affected both the ADWI and ADFI, showing a high-water intake and feed intake in rams subjected to 40g/kg of FSF followed by 60g FSF/kg, 20g FSF/kg and 0g FSF/kg (P< 0.01) respectively. All the physiological parameters ST, RT, RR, HR and PR decreased with an increase in the inclusion levels of FSF (P< 0.01). The TPP increased as the levels of FSF increases (P< 0.01). The MCHC was low in rams subjected to 60g FSF/kg and in 0g to 40g FSF/kg TPP increases as levels of FSF increases (P< 0.01). This study concluded that supplementing with various inclusion levels of FSF had a positive effect on feed preference. The FSF also showed the ability to mitigate heat stress in Dohne Merino rams. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science and Agriculture, 2020
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- Date Issued: 2020-02
The anatomy of the triassic theropod Syntarsus rhodesiensis (Saurischia : Podokesauridae) and a consideration of its biology
- Authors: Raath, M A
- Date: 1978
- Subjects: Reptiles, Fossil Dinosaurs Paleontology -- Triassic , Dinosaurs , Fossils , Reptiles , Palaeontology , Triassic period
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5601 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002051
- Description: The osteology of the Upper Triassic podokesaurid Syntarsus rhodesiensis is described, based on a series of 30+ individuals representing all skeletal elements, recovered since the description of the holotype (Raath, 1969). A brief account of the geology of the finds is given, with an attempt at a reconstruction of the palaaoenvironment. The excellence of preservation of the bones has permitted an attempt at the restoration of soft tissues including the brain, cranial nerves, main cranial blood vessels and the musculature of the jaws, neck and limbs. Histological sections of limb bones have shown that the compact bone was highly vascular, and this, together with the structure of the brain, palaeoenvironmental considerations, social behaviour and group structure, leads to the conclusion that Syntarsus was an endothermic homeotherm inhabiting a hot arid region at the end of the Triassic, with a social organisation into "flocks" in which females predominated numerically. Clear evidence of sexual dimorphism is presented. Syntarsus is reconstructed as a bipedal, saltatorial predator which differs in subtle, but probably generically significant, characteristics from the closely related North American genus, Coelophysis. Its anatomy characterises it as a medium-sized agile animal with a highly kinetic skull; incipiently opposable pollex in the raptorial manus; highly cursorial hindlimb; and with features in the dentition and hallux which suggest a grooming function. It is concluded that the Triassic coelurosaurian stock provided an advanced and well adapted base from which the successful coelurosaur radiation into the later Mesozoic sprang, and that this stock was physiologically pre-adapted for the emergence of the avian (and possibly the pterosaur) lineages in the Jurassic
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- Date Issued: 1978