Efficacy of Fecal Hormone Metabolite Monitoring in the Screaming Hairy Armadillo

Overview

The purpose of this research was to determine if it was possible to extract the hormone metabolites out of the feces of the screaming hairy armadillo to establish a new protocol for this animal. Fecal samples were collected by Henry Doorly zoo staff and placed in the freezer for preservation. They were then shaved down and weighed into test tubes and mixed with ethanol to extract the hormone metabolites. The extracted metabolites were put in smaller extract tubes and placed in the freezer. The samples were run in duplicates. An enzyme immunoassay (EIA) process was used to test for progesterone (P4) and estradiol (E2). The results indicated that an accurate standard curve did not show up for E2, and the standard curve for P4 was good but could also improve. The standard curve is the specific hormone being used/measured and is used as a baseline to know if the extracted hormones from the feces show a proper curve representing the animal’s reproductive patterns. Other metabolites will be tested by the reproductive physiology department in the Center for Conservation and Research on zoo grounds to indicate a pattern in the armadillo’s reproductive cycle. At this point in the research, it appears that the hypothesis is half supported because further studying of the screaming hairy armadillos’ reproductive patterns and behaviors will better help understand this animals’ reproductive physiology.

Competition history

• AJAS 2019 Category not listed

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