Table 2.

Sampling parameters of the optical fractionator cell counts, the number of sections that were analyzed, and the raw cell counts that were obtained from these sections.

	Namaqua rock mouse	Guinea pig	White rabbit	Golden jackal	Wild boar	European roe deer	Red deer
Section sampling fraction (reflected blade)	1/12th (1/6th)	1/12th	1/30th	1/40th (1/20th)	1/50th	1/60th	1/100th
Range of section numbers	18–22	16–36	15–22	16–22	13–19	15–16	19–22
Granule cells
Counting frame, μm	15 × 15	15 × 15	15 × 15	15 × 15	20 × 20	20 × 20	20 × 20
Step size, μm	220	220	200	340	380	400	400
Counts, mean (SD)	312 (58)	239 (89)	359 (191)	147 (26)	235 (181)	282 (102)	155 (37)
Hilar cells
Counting frame, μm	60 × 60	60 × 60	60 × 60	70 × 70	90 × 90	90 × 90	90 × 90
Step size, μm	200	220	270	340	380	600	400
Counts, mean (SD)	129 (27)	264 (89)	121 (31)	116 (23)	177 (71)	94 (7)	123 (51)
CA3 reflected blade
Counting frame, μm	60 × 60	50 × 50	40 × 40	70 × 70	70 × 70	90 × 90	70 × 70
Step size, μm	200	220	230	190	380	600	450
Counts, mean (SD)	163 (60)	156 (65)	124 (37)	305 (92)	166 (75)	144 (34)	96 (35)
CA3 pyramidal cells
Counting frame, μm	40 × 40	40 × 40	35 × 35	60 × 60	60 × 60	70 × 70	70 × 70
Step size, μm	250	220	200	420	380	600	450
Counts, mean (SD)	308 (78)	350 (87)	245 (81)	235 (11)	225 (75)	135 (11)	147 (60)
CA1 pyramidal cells
Counting frame, μm	40 × 40	30 × 30	20 × 20	20 × 20	45 × 45	45 × 45	50 × 50
Step size, μm	320	220	220	560	470	600	450
Counts, mean (SD)	301 (41)	432 (99)	284 (56)	148 (6)	246 (98)	174 (28)	168 (108)
Subicular cells
Counting frame, μm	40 × 40	40 × 40	50 × 50	50 × 50	70 × 70	70 × 70	60 × 60
Step size, μm	320	220	370	400	470	600	600
Counts, mean (SD)	129 (22)	312 (100)	166 (56)	165 (29)	212 (89)	169 (44)	127 (31)