That the time of molt is determined by the amount of light has clearly
been shown by Bissonnette (1944:223) for American weasels of the two
species _Mustela erminea_ and _M. frenata_. In his words (_op.
cit._:246) "Reducing the daily periods of light induced molting and
regrowth of new fur. . . . In the Bonaparte weasels [_Mustela
erminea_], white replaced brown. . . . Increasing daily light-periods
caused molting and change to dark brown. . . . Incomplete molts in both
directions (toward white or toward brown) were produced as a result of
early reversal of increase or decrease of daily light-time. . . . That
this stimulus is received through the eyes and acts through the
anterior pituitary gland is indicated by Bissonnette's [1935:159]
studies on ferrets, a nearly related animal. That the thyroids and
sex-glands are not essential is at least suggested . . . by Lyman's
(1942) study on the varying hare [_Lepus americanus_]." It can be added
that Lyman (1943:451) demonstrated in _Lepus americanus_ that the
effect of light is received through the eyes. He demonstrated this by
masking the animals. To Wright (1942B:109) who studied the two American
weasels, _M. erminea_ and _M. frenata_, it seemed likely that the
pituitary produced or released gonadotropic hormone at about the time
of the spring molt and that this molt and the spring changes in the
reproductive tracts of the weasels might be caused by a stimulus from a
common source. Later, Wright (1950:130) injected a gonadotropic hormone
into long-tailed weasels which had recently acquired their white winter
pelage and thereby caused them to lose the white pelage and acquire the
brown pelage. It is Lyman (1943:450) who says, in relation to _Lepus
americanus_, "When in the physiologically white condition, the
melanoblasts of the regenerating guard-and pile-hair follicles contain
no melanin-forming enzyme (dopa-oxidase), which may be the reason for
the lack of pigment." Schwalbe (1893) by sectioning the skin and
microscopically examining the hair-follicles of _M. erminea_ learned
that the basal cells producing hairs lacked pigment granules in autumn
when the European ermine (_M. erminea_) was acquiring its white winter
coat and that the cells contained granules of pigment in spring when,
as we know, the granules are incorporated in the growing hair and give
it its color.
The above material, then, is basis for the account on pages 31 and 32
of what causes the weasel of northern areas to have a white coat in
winter. The discerning student will instantly perceive that although
some parts of the account on pages 31 and 32 are precisely accurate,
other parts are the result of inferences which need to be proved. More
careful work of the kind that Schwalbe (1893) and Wright (1942B) did is
needed. The account on pages 31 and 32 is merely the best that can be
given with the information now available.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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