This study was carried out to make was to determine the craniometric characteristics of the crania of Akkaraman and Kangal Akkaraman sheep, local breeds of Turkey, by using computed tomography (CT). Equal numbers of healthy male Akkaraman and Kangal Akkaraman sheep heads aged 8-12 months were used in the study (n=12/group). The images were obtained by scanning the heads with a CT device. These images were converted into a three-dimensional structure using the 3D Slicer program and their morphometric measurements were calculated. In the study, a total of 13 parameters and 5 indexes were measured in the skull. As a result, the morphometric differences of the skulls of Akkaraman and Kangal Akkaraman sheep were determined by statistical methods. All the characteristics examined were expressed as mean ± SE. Results of our study, when the craniometric data were examined a statistically significant difference was found in skull length, skull width, greatest length of the nasal bone, greatest breadth across the nasal, medial frontal length, cranial width, facial width, height of the foramen magnum, greatest breadth of the foramen magnum, greatest frontal breadth and least breadth between the orbits parameters (P 0.05). It is thought that the presented study may be useful to veterinarians in the fields of surgery and clinical practice, and to studies in the field of zooarchaeology, as well as sheep taxonomy.

Objectives The objective of this research was to learn more about bone metabolism in intact female and male Kangal shepherd dogs during the aging process following skeletal maturity. It also evaluated the potential application of biochemical bone indicators in veterinary clinical practice. Methods Bone markers were determined as bone alkaline phosphatase (BALP), osteocalcin (OC), C‐terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX), and cross‐linked C‐telopeptide of type I collagen (ICTP) in this study. Kangal shepherd dogs of different age (adult, senior, and geriatric) and sex (male and female) groups were split into six groups of equal numbers (n = 8/group). Results In this study, the effect of age was observed on serum BALP, OC, CTX, and ICTP concentrations. Specifically, BALP was highest in geriatric female Kangal shepherd dogs, while serum OC, CTX, and ICTP concentrations were highest in geriatric male Kangal shepherd dogs. However, no effects of sex and age–sex interactions were identified. Moreover, the effects of age, sex, and age–sex interactions had no significant effect on serum creatinine, CK, LDH, Mg, and P concentrations or ALT activities. However, only sex was found to affect serum AST activities and gradually decreased with age in females. The effect of age and age–sex interactions on serum Ca concentrations was significant (the lowest serum Ca concentrations were in geriatric females), but the effect of sex was not. Conclusions These results show the effect of age and sex on bone turnover in Kangal shepherd dogs and provide information about bone biomarkers.

This study was aimed to determine the effect of age and gender on physiological variations in some hematological parameters and erythrocyte osmotic fragility in Kangal Shepherd dogs. A total of 32 clinically healthy Kangal Shepherd dogs were taken into the study and divided into 4 groups in equal numbers (Adult male = 8, Adult female = 8, Senior male = 8, Senior female = 8). Blood samples from the cephalic vein were taken into vacuum tubes containing EDTA by the technique and values of erythrocyte osmotic fragility and complete blood count were determined. The main effect of age and gender with age x gender interaction has no significant effect on hematological parameters (P>0.05). The main effect of age and age x gender interaction of erythrocyte osmotic fragility was statistically significant and higher in the senior females at 0.7% and 0.9% (in addition gender) NaCl concentrations compared to the other groups (P<0.05). However, there was no statistical difference between the adult female and adult male and senior male group at 0.7% and 0.9% NaCl concentrations (P>0.05). The findings may be useful for veterinary clinical practice in establishing Kangal shepherd breed-specific reference ranges for some important hematological parameters.