Brachial plexus of the porcupine (Hystrix cristata)

Abstract

The porcupine is a member of Hystricidae family, a li�le group of rodentia (Weichert, 1970;Kuru, 1987;Demirsoy, 1992). The brachial plexus has been studied in variety of mammals including dog (Miller et al., 1964;Tipirdamaz and Erden, 1988;Dursun et al., 1994), cat (McClure et al., 1973;Ge�y, 1975), Wervet monkey (Booth, 1991), Chacma baboon (Booth et al., 1997), rabbit (Aslan, 1994Yilmaz et al., 1995), mouse (Cook, 1965;Bogusch, 1987) and rat (Green, 1968;Chiasson, 1980;Bertelli et al., 1992). To the author's knowledge this is the first study on the brachial plexus of porcupines (Hystrix cristata). The purpose of this study was to document the spinal nerves that constitute the brachial plexus of the porcupines (Hystrix cristata). MATERIAL AND METHODSFour porcupines (two males and two females) hunted by hunters were used. To document the spinal nerves forming the brachial plexus, skin and muscles were carefully dissected. The brachial plexus in both forelimbs were examined and pictured.For the terminology, the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria (1994) was used. RESULTSThe brachial plexus of porcupines was constituted by ventral rami of C5, C6, C7, C8, T1 and T2. The ventral rami of C5 and T2 were divided into two branches. The contribution of caudal branch of ramus ventralis of C5 and the cranial branch of ramus ventralis of T2 was observed. The cranial branch of ramus ventralis of C5 and the ramus ventralis of C6 formed the cranial trunk and cranial branch of T2 and rami ventralis of C7, C8 ve T1 formed the caudal trunk which is the largest. A branch originated from cranial trunk was bound to the cranial part of caudal trunk (Figures 1 and 2).Long thoracic nerve: Before joining to the brachial plexus, the ventral branches of C6 and C7, as each of C6 and C7 divided into two thin branches, passed beneath the m. scalenaus dorsalis and at the first rib they turn to the cauda and dispersed into serratus ventralis thoracic muscle. Brachial plexus of the porcupine (Hystrix cristata)A. A���� Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Firat University, Turkey ABSTRACT: In this study, the brachial plexus of the porcupine (Hystrix cristata) was investigated. Four porcupines (two males and two females) were used and the brachial plexus of them were dissected. It was found that the brachial plexus of the porcupine was formed by rami ventralis of C5, C6, C7, C8, T1 and T2. The rami ventralis of C5 and T2 were divided into two branches. The caudal branch of C5 and cranial branch of T2 contributed to the brachial plexus. The caudal branch of C5 and C6 constituted the cranial trunk and the caudal trunk was formed by a branch which came from cranial trunk, rami ventralis of C7, C8, T1 and the cranial branch of ventral ramus of T2. Contribution of C5 and T2 to the formation of the brachial plexus and division of the brachial plexus to the caudal and cranial trunks differ the brachial plexus of this species from those of rat, mouse and mammals.Keywords: spinal nerves; Hystrix cristata; brachial plexus; porcupines List of abb...

Gross Anatomy of the Brachial Plexus in the Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla)

“…The ventral ramus of T1 was the only thoracic segment contributing to the structure of the M. tridactyla's brachial plexus, which is the commonly caudal bound of this plexus demonstrated in mammals (Fioretto et al., ; König and Liebich, ; Gamba et al., ; Melo et al., ; Souza et al., ; Cruvinel et al., ; Yoshitomi et al., ). However, the involvement of T2 in the brachial plexus composition has been also demonstrated in many species, such as new and old world monkeys (Miller, ), bovine, dog and horse (Getty, ), monotremas (Koizumi and Sakai, ), porcupine (Aydin, ), rock cavy (Santana et al., ), collared peccary (Moura et al., ) and paca (Scavone et al., ). Among mammals, only the La Plata River dolphin ( Pontoporia blainvillei ) does not show thoracic contribution in its brachial plexus, which is comprised by C4 through C8 cervical roots (Strickler, ).…”

Descrição do plexo braquial do cachorro-do-mato (Cerdocyon thous Linnaeus, 1766)

“…A origem do plexo braquial do cachorro-domato (Cerdocyon thous), em que o plexo se inicia a partir do sexto nervo espinhal cervical (C6), assemelha-se à dos cães domésticos 10 e à do cachorrodo-mato-de-orelhas-curtas (Atelocynus microtis) 11 ; entretanto, Allam et al 12 , realizando dissecações em 58 cães, observou a participação do ramo ventral de C5 em 24 animais, 09% dos casos. No que diz respeito aos mamíferos silvestres, plexo braquial do cachorrodo-mato (Cerdocyon thous) assemelha-se ao dos catetos 13 , chinchilas 14 e mocós 15 e se diferencia do tamanduá-mirim 16 , paca 17 , macaco-prego 18 , porcoespinho 19 e rato 20 , que apresentam o plexo iniciado a partir do quinto cervical (C5), e dos monotremados (equidna e ornitorrinco) 21 , gorilas, chimpanzés, gibão 22 e capivara 23 , os quais apresentam origem do plexo em C4, além da preguiça-de-bentinho (B.…”

“…Quanto ao segmento final que dá origem a este plexo, a espécie estudada apresenta semelhança ao que foi encontrado em cachorro-do-mato-deorelhas-curtas 11 , tamanduá-mirim 16 , macaco-prego 18 , chinchilas 14 e rato 20 , cujo segmento final corresponde à primeira vértebra torácica (T1). Diferentemente ao descrito para cães domésticos 10 , preguiça-decoleira 25 , pacas 17 , catetos 13 , porco-espinho 19 , mocós 15 e monotremados 21 , em que esse segmento correspondente à segunda vértebra torácica (T2).…”

“…Os autores relatam a união destes nervos por meio de uma alça dupla cujo ramo mais caudal é muito delgado. Este nervo apresenta uma gama de descrições entre as espécies: na capivara 23 sua origem varia entre C4-6 e C5-7, em pacas 17 entre C5 e C7 e no porco-espinho 19 se verificam as raízes cervicais C5 e C6. Entretanto, nos gatos 5 e chinchila 14 , o nervo supra-escapular se origina somente do sexto nervo espinhal cervical (C6) e do sétimo nervo cervical em preguiça-de-coleira 25 .…”

The Rabbit Brachial Plexus as a Model for Nerve Repair Surgery—Histomorphometric Analysis

“…So far, single experimental studies related to brachial plexus have been performed on rats nerve (Bertelli et al, 1992; Santos et al, ), monkeys (Booth, ), baboons (Booth, ), mouses (Bogush, ), cats (Getty, ), dogs (Mahler and Adogwa, ) and porcupines (Aydin, ). They focused on the macroscopic anatomy without morphometric analysis of brachial plexus and long branches on peripheral nerves.…”