COMPARATIVE STUDY OF

SKULL OF CAMEL, OX

AND HORSE

Skull

Part of Skeleton which enclose head is Skull

FUNCTIONS:

1. Protect brain

2. Support many of sense organs

3. Form passages for entry to respiratory and

digestive system

Parts Of Skull

CRANIAL PART

Ethmoid

Occipital

Sphenoid

Frontal

Interparietal

Parietal

Pterygoid

Temporal

Vomer

FACIAL PART

Incisive

Lacrimal

Mandible

Maxilla

Palatine

Nasal

Turbinates (conchae)

Zygomatic

Hyoid apparatus

Facial And Cranial Parts

Facial parts of skull

Enclose nasal and oral cavities

Facial region is divided into oral, nasal and

orbital regions

Cranial part of skull

Surrounds the brain

Structure Of Cranium

Roof

Caudal aspect

Lateral wall

Floor

Rostral aspect

Parietal Bone:

Form roof of cranium in camel.

In horse, its external surface is convex

forming external parietal crest.

In ox, parietal bone don’t enter in

formation of roof of cranium but form

temporal fossa.

Facial Crest

In horses, the ridge

on lateral surface of

face

Facial crest is also

present in ox.

In camels it is

absent.

Facial/ Maxillary Tuberosity

Ruminants:

process on the

lateral surface of

face.

Present in horse

Absent in camel

Ethmoid Bone

In ox, Unpaired bone forming the rostral wall of

cranial cavity.

It is absent in horses.

In camel, it form foramen on dorsal surface.

Lateral View

Bony Orbit

Formed by lacrimal and frontal bones.

Complete in horses and ruminants.

Incomplete in carnivores but is completed by the

orbital ligament.

At the middle in camel.

Depression between orbit and nasal profile is

short and straight.

Cornual Process

The process of the frontal bone of horned

ruminants that is enclosed by the horn

Absent in horse

Absent in camel

Temporal Fossa

Depression formed by temporal and parietal

bones.

In ruminants, it has been pushed to the lateral

side of the skull by the frontal bone.

In camel, temporal fossae are extensive and

concave caudally

Interparietal Bone

Bone found only in horse and cat, between the

two parietal bones, rostral to the occipital bone.

In other species it is present in fetus but fuses

with surrounding bones before birth.

In camel, interparietal bone is completely fused

to squamous part of occipital bone.

Equine Skull (Dorsal View)

Frontal Bone

Rostral part of the roof of the cranial cavity in

most domestic species.

In ox and pig it forms the entire roof.

In camel roof is formed by occipital, parietal

and temporal bones.

Frontal bones are small.

Parietal bone form roof of cranium.

Nasal Bones

In camel, they end with a short median

processes and long lateral processes.

In horse, they form greater part of roof of nasal

cavity.

In ox, nasal bone is little more than half the

length of that of horse.

Vomer

In ox, vomer forms a wider and deeper groove

than in horse.

In horse, vomer is median bone, assist in

forming ventral part of septum nasi. Form

groove which receive lower part of etmoid

bone and septal cartilage.

Vomer: Can be seen along the floor of the

osseous opening, in camel.

Caudal Border Of Cranium

Nuchal crest is dome-

shaped and forms

prominent caudal border

In camel caudal surfaces

are slightly convex.

In ox, pentagonal in

outline in adult

Foramen Magnum

Straight medial

border forms lateral

boundries of foramen

magnum in camel

In ox, caudal border

of occipital bone

form it

Nasal Cavity

Incompletely divided by septum in ox

Longitudinal passage extend through upper part

of face and completely divided in horse.

In camel, Relatively short, they end with a short

median processes andlong lateral processes

Maxilla: constricted in nasal region to form

slender dorsolateral borders

Maxilla

Very extensive and high in camel and ox

Concave rostrally and convex posteriorly

In horse, the infraorbital foramen was present in

the maxilla bone just above the level of 2nd

cheek tooth.

no maxillary tuberosity and facial crest in camel,

as these were present in ox and horse,

respectively.

References

Sisson, S. and J. D. Grossman, 1985. The

Anatomy of the Domestic Animals. 5th Ed., W.B.

Saunders Company, Philadelphia, USA.

Yahaya, Ahmed, James O. Olopade, Hyelduku

D. Kwari, and Ibrahim M. Wiam. ‘Osteometry of

the Skull of One-Humped Camels. Part I:

Immature Animals’. Italian Journal of Anatomy

and Embryology 117, no. 1 (2012): 23–33.

Shahid, R. U., R. Kausar, and others.

‘Comparative Gross Anatomical Studies of the

Skull of One-Humped Camel (Camelus

Dromedarius)’. Pakistan Veterinary Journal 25,

no. 4 (2005): 205.

Pasquini, C., Spurgeon, T. and Pasquini, S.

Anatomy of Domestic Animals: 5th editSystemic

and Regional onApproach. Sudz Publishing,

1989.