Distinguishing between determinate and indeterminate growth in a long-lived mammal

Table 2 Parameters for weight growth curves

Curve	n	W∞ (cm)	K	t ₀
Averaged female, captive only	172	2599	0.37	−2.52
Averaged female, wild and captive	243	2548	0.40	−2.47
Longitudinal female, captive and historic	25	2498	0.49	−2.40
Averaged male, captive only	159	3412	0.20	−2.84
Averaged male, wild and captive	188	3407	0.19	−2.85
Longitudinal male, captive and historic	20	3238	0.44	−2.65

Von Bertalanffy: curve parameters w _t = W∞(1-e(−K(t-t ₀))), where w _t is the weight of an individual at age t, W∞ is the asymptotic weight of the population, K is the growth rate, and t ₀ is the theoretical age at which weight will be zero. As with height, no formal statistical asymptotes of the curves were reached for weight in either sex (Table 1), likely for the same reason as for height: a lack of a fully longitudinal dataset

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