Comparative anatomy of blue-and-yellow macaw (Ara ararauna) and toco toucan (Ramphastos toco) beaks using macroscopic analysis and computerized tomography.
The hoary fox (Lycalopex vetulus, Lund, 1842) is the smallest Brazilian canid, whose weight varies between 2 and 4 kg, has a slender body, a small head, and a short and blackened snout. Despite being considered an endemic species, little is known about the hoary fox as it is one of the seven less studied canids in the world. Thus, this study aimed to describe the anatomy of the abdominal aorta artery of the hoary fox and to compare it with the pre-established literature data in domestic canids. For this purpose, we used two adult hoary foxes without definite age. We collected the corpses of these animals along roadsides of Catalão-GO, being later fixed and conserved in a 10% formalin solution. The results showed that the abdominal aorta in hoary fox is at the ventral face of the lumbar region vertebral bodies, being slightly displaced to the left of the median plane. The first branch is visceral, named celiac artery, followed by a paired parietal branch: the phrenic abdominal arteries. The third and fourth branches are the cranial mesenteric arteries and the rightand left are the renal arteries, respectively. The posterior branches of the renal arteries are equally visceral, paired, being called testicular arteries. Distal to the latter, both the caudal mesenteric artery and deep circumflex iliac arteries originate. Finally, two large external iliac arteries and its terminal branches composed of internal iliac arteries and the median sacral artery originate. In addition, five pairs of lumbar arteries originate alongside the abdominal segment of the aorta. Considering these findings, it is possible to conclude that despite the hoary fox being a wild animal, the anatomy of its abdominal aorta is very similar to that of domestic canids.
As doenças hepáticas estão entre as 20 principais causas de mortalidade e redução da qualidade de vida em todo mundo, onde a falência hepática terminal geralmente requer a necessidade de um transplante, entretanto, a demanda supera a oferta de órgãos disponíveis. Nesse contexto, a utilização de uma matriz extracelular hepática
The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of Computed Tomography to study the anatomy of the eye and the vestibulocochlear organ of the wild birds. For this purpose, formaldehyde-embalmed specimens of a toucan and of a blue-and-yellow macaw were submitted to a whole-body scan by a 64 slice-Multidetector CT yielding 0,7mm-thick transversally oriented images. These were reconstructed by specific software that produced additional images in dorsal, transversal, and sagittal planes, as well as three-dimensional images, which were obtained by two techniques: Maximum Intensity Projection and Volume Rendering. Our study found that the eye bulbs in the orbit occupy a proportionally large space in the skull, highlighting the important role that vision plays in these animals. CT provided gross anatomic information about the size and shape of the eye, such as lenses and scleral rings of these birds. Regarding the vestibulocochlear organ, CT was less likely to identify the inner ear structures, especially the ones of the membranous labyrinth. The bony semicircular canals were clearly seen and in the middle ear, thecolumellawas identified. Our results demonstrate that the vestibulocochlear organ of birds is less complex than that of mammals, although, as expected, the semicircular canals are very well developed, being adapted to the accurate balance present in these animals.CT can be used as a good technique to evaluate eye and ear structures on these birds, and can be useful to study them in vivofor pathological conditions or for comparisons between different species.
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