 Reference Base  Electrocardiographic study on the African black rhinoceros |
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| Location: |
World |
| Subject: |
Physiology |
| Species: |
Black Rhino |
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Subject was a black rhino 12 days old. The electrocardiographused was a direct-writing, heat-stylus Sanborn Viscocardiette. Alligator clips were attached as high up as possible on the inner aspects of the front and hind limbs. The sensitivity of the instrument was increased so that 1 millivolt was equal to 1.5 cm. The animal was standing and no drugs were used to restrain him. The recordings were obtained from the limb leads.
The rhythm is regular and the heart rate is an average of 31 beats per minate. The duration of systole (Q-T interval) is about 0.64 seconds. This is a rather prolonged time interval for cardiac contraction, much like that of the elephants. However, it is a slow-beating heart. The T-wave in most leads is diphasic as in the horse.
It is interesting to note that low voltages have been obtained for all the complexes. This probably supports the view that the great thickness of the skin results in low amplitudes in the ecg tracings of thick-skinned animals.
Electocardiogarphic values for rhinoceros (time intervals in seconds)
Leah P Wave P-R QRS Q-T T Wave Rate/min
I 0.12 0.40 0.08 0.68 0.16 30
II 0.10 0.38 0.08 0.64 0.12 31
III 0.12 0.36 0.08 0.64 0.16 30
AVR 0.08 0.40 0.08 0.64 0.14 33
AVL 0.08 0.32 0.08 0.64 0.12 33
AVF 0.08 0.40 0.08 - 0.12 30
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