Coat of Arctic Fox (Alopex lagopus L.) of Different Genetic Groups in Micro- and Macroscopic Studies and in DSC Investigations

The objective of this research project was to compare in different genetic groups of arctic foxes the composition of the coat, hair length, and thickness as well as the medulla of four hair types but, primarily, to investigate the hair of the two layers of the coat hair (the underhair and the overcoat) using, for this purpose, the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) method. Generally speaking, Finnish foxes were characterized by the most favorable indices of these traits. Different proportions of genes exerted a different impact on the level of these traits.