<b>Anatomical description of the salivary glands: parotid, mandibular and sublingual of the crab-eating-fox (<i>Cerdocyon thous</i>)

Abstract

Descriptive anatomical studies of wild animals are fundamental, since they provide subsidies for the elaboration of more adequate techniques of sustained management, contributing to the preservation of species threatened with extinction. Thus, the aim of the study is to anatomically describe the salivary glands: parotid, mandibular and sublingual of the crab-eating-fox (Cerdocyon thous). For this purpose, three carcasses of crab-eating-fox donated by Ibama were used. The animals were fixed with 10% aqueous formaldehyde solution, dissected, analyzed descriptively and photographed. It was found that the parotid gland of the crab-eating-fox is located caudally to the branch of the mandible, in the rostroventral margin of the auricular cartilage. The mandibular gland is located in the atlantal fossa and extends to the basi-hyoid bone. The sublingual gland of the crab-eating-fox shows two parts: monostomatic and polystomatic. The monostomatics are located in the occipitomandibular region of the digastric muscle and the portion polysomatic is situated between the tunica mucosa of the oral cavity and the buccinator muscle. Based on the results, we conclude that the salivary glands of the crab-eating-fox are found distributed in the facial region and present anatomical characteristics that follow the same structural pattern described for other species of carnivorous mammals.

Anatomical characteristics of the major salivary glands of puma (Puma concolor Linnaeus, 1771)

“…The morphological and topographic attributes of the puma mandibular gland corroborate numerous aspects with other domestic carnivorous mammals, such as dogs, cats (18,20) and wild carnivores, such as the undersea, coati (16) and crab-eatingfox (7) . However, we observed some discordant anatomical characteristics compared to other wild and domestic species.…”

“…Based on the dissections, the anatomical attributes of the parotid gland of the puma resemble morphologically in some respects to other wild and domestic carnivorous mammals. The location of the parotid salivary gland in the caudal-dorsal region of the face, ventrally arranged the basal region of the auricular cartilage, is analogous to that found in some wild carnivorous mammals such as crab-eating-fox (7) , crab eating raccoon (15) and coati (16) . In addition, these authors also found a fissure in the dorsal end of the gland, which is similar to that found in the puma in our study.…”

“…In addition, these authors also found a fissure in the dorsal end of the gland, which is similar to that found in the puma in our study. The origin of the parotid duct at the ventral end of the gland and the rectilinear path over the medial face of the masseter muscle have also been reported in wild carnivorous mammals (7,15) and domestic carnivores (dog and cat) (17,18) . Some authors also show that in dogs, cats and humans, small accessory parotid glands can be found along the parotid duct (19,20) , a fact that was not observed in this study in the puma.…”

“…In coati, the parotid has a "U" shape, while in the crab eating raccoon,a"Y" (15) . In thecrabeating-fox, dogs and cats, the parotid is irregularly triangular (7,20) .…”

“…In Brazil, the species began to be considered vulnerable from 2014 on the latest list of endangered animals, made by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio). Thus, studies on the comparative anatomy of wild animals have gained prominence in recent years (6,7) , mainly due to the degradation and fragmentation of natural environments (8) , which has resulted in the extinction of numerous species. In this context, descriptive anatomical studies of wild animals are fundamental because they provide important basic information about the biology of these species (9,10) .…”