Morphometric and macroanatomic examination of auditory ossicles in male wolves (Canis lupus)

Abstract

Background: The aim of the study was to determine morphometric and macroanatomic features of auditory ossicles and the tympanic bulla in wolf. Materials and methods: For this purpose, 7 skulls of adult male wolf were used in the study. Auditory ossicles was photographed on a dissection microscope after it was removed from the skull. A total of 14 morphometric measurements were taken among the different points of malleus, incus and stapes in Image J programme. Mean values of the measurements were obtained and statistically compared in terms of sides (right-left). Results: In male wolves, the lengths of the right and left malleus were determined as mean 9.35 ± 0.14 and 9.57 ± 0.25 mm, the lengths of the incus as mean 3.01 ± 0.32 and 2.94 ± 0.16 mm, and the lengths of the stapes as mean 2.57 ± 0.12 and 2.59 ± 0.14 mm, respectively. The differences were not statistically significant when all the morphometric parameters were compared in terms of sides (p > 0.05). Conclusions: It is considered that this study will contribute to the anatomical studies to be conducted in the Canidae family regarding auditory ossicles.

Morphological and morphometrical study of the auditory ossicles in chinchilla

“…The stapes, the smallest of three bones, has an overall pyramidal shape (similarly with many species studied; Berghes et al, ; Gürbüz et al, ; Martins et al, ). It consists of a defined head (with the corresponding articular surface), less evident neck, two crura and the base.…”

“…For the two crura, there are significant differences in size, the anterior crus being almost 10% shorter as well as straighter than the caudal crus. The crura are almost equal in size in mule (Nazih, ), while in cat, rabbit and wolf (Gürbüz et al, ; Martin, ; Seifert et al, ), the anterior crus is described as being longer and slightly bent when compared to the posterior crus. The overall shape of the intercrusal foramen is elliptic, with a ratio of antero‐posterior axis versus dorso‐ventral axis of 1:0.91 to 1:0.96.…”

“…Measurements on the auditory ossicles were made in accordance with the data suggested by a series of authors (Gürbüz et al, ; Kurtul et al, ; Vrettakos et al, ; Wang & Gan, ), combining these data sets for each of the measured ossicles.…”

“…There are some characteristics that make chinchillas fit for the scientific research, especially for experimental otology studies (Gürbüz, Demiraslan, Orhun Dayan, & Aslan, ; Miller, ; Mohammadpour, , ): the availability of animals, the high degree of adaptability in captivity, a relatively long lifespan when compared to other laboratory rodents as well as some anatomical features: resemblance of the middle and internal ear structures to the human ones, ease of surgical access, resistance to middle otitis and similar hearing ranges to those of the humans (Bergin, Vlajkovic, Bird, & Thorne, ; Heffner & Heffner, ).…”

“…Data related to the detailed anatomy of the auditory ossicles are relatively limited. A few elements were reported in case of birds (Mills, ), different rodents (Kerber & Sánchez‐Villagra, ; Kurtul et al, ; Lee, Park, Kang, & Choung, ; Li, Gao, Ding, & Salvi, ; Maier, Tröscher, & Ruf, ; Martins et al, ; Mohammadpour, , ; Şanlı, Sedat, & Oztürk, ), humans (García‐Real, Kass, Sturges, & Wisner, ; Isaacson, ), swine (Gurr, Kevenhörster, Stark, Pearson, & Dazert, ; Hoffstetter et al, ; Pracy, White, Mustafa, Smith, & Perry, ), miniature pigs (HaiJin et al, ), sheep (Ayres Seibel, Lavinsky, & Preto De Oliveira, ; Simaei, Soltanalinejad, Najafi, & Shalizar Jalali, ), chinchilla (Vrettakos, Dear, & Saunders, ; Wang & Gan, ), cat (Beck, Kilchling, & Meyer‐Lindenberg, ; Seifert et al, ), dog (Berghes, Parvu, Cucoanes, & Cuca, ) and wolf (Gürbüz et al, ), badger (Rozen‐Rechels, Peigné, Germain, & Ladevèze, ), horse (Blanke, Aupperle, Seeger, Kubick, & Schusser, ), donkey (Awal et al, ), common degu (32) or other subterranean cavimorphes (Argyle & Mason, ).…”