Prenatal Development of Incisors in the Egyptian Buffalo (Bos bubalis).

Abstract

The teeth play importa nt roles in food mastication, prehens ion and defe ns e against predato rs . Althoug h severa l studie s demons tra te d the developm e nt of teeth in differe nt mammalia n species , no data are, to our knowle d g e , available in Egyptia n buffalos . Therefore, the present investig a tion was conducte d to study the develop me n t of incisor teeth in buffaloe . Design: Descriptive study. Animals : sevente e n buffalo embryos and fetuses of both sexes were used. Their crown verte bra l rump lengths (CVRL) ranged from 2 to 46 cm (equiva le nt to 38 -177 days old). Proce dure: Embryos and fetuses were fixed in 10% neutra l buffere d formalin and decalcifie d by 14% EDTA solution for several weeks . The samples were dehydra te d , cleare d and embedde d in paraffin wax using standa rd technique s . Sections were cut on Leitz microtom e and mounte d on uncoa te d slides. For general histolog ica l structure , a selection of slides was routine ly stained with haematoxylin -e osin and examine d by the light micros cope . Result: The present study reporte d for the first time that the prenata l developme nt of incisors in buffalo passes throug h three sequentia l stages: the bud, cap and bell stag e s . Althoug h each stage was easily differe ntia te d based on its form and its distinc t developm e ntal features , the three stages were overla ppe d with each other's . Genera ll y , the bud stage was observe d in 11 cm CVRL buffalo fetuses, meanwhile the cap and be ll stages were detecte d in 23 cm and 30 cm CVRL fetuses respective ly. Conclus ion and clinical relevance:These results can be used as inductive index for determina tion of the ages of buffalo embryos and fetuses.