INDIRECT MEASUREMENT FOR BODY-SURFACE AREA OF COTTON RATS

The body surface areas (BSAs) of 42 cotton rats (21 females weighing 2 9.08 to 169.60 g, and 21 males weighing 18.93 to 168.03 g) were measur ed. From these areas and body weights (BW), the equation, BSA (cm2) = 47.66 + 2.476 x BW (g) - 0.006 x BW (g)2, was derived. To verify the a pplicability of the equation, the BSAs of another 19 animals (12 femal es weighing 29.08 to 169.60 g, and 7 males weighing 19.27 to 167.32 g) were calculated and the values compared with the measured BSAs. The c orrelation between calculated and measured BSAs was significant (r = 0 .995, P < 0.01). Therefore, this equation can be used to calculate cot ton rat BSA.