ON THE SKULL MORPHOLOGY OF RACCOON DOG (NYCTEREUTES PROCYONOIDES) AND RED FOX (VULPES VULPES)

Abstract

The aim of this work was to perform analysis of the skull morphology of red fox and raccoon dog and to examine their frontal sinuses (sinus frontalis) with the help of the methods of comparative anatomy and computed tomography. A total of 71 skulls of adult animals were used, 38 of red fox (22 male and 16 female) and 33 of raccoon dogs (21 male and 12 female). The most distinct morphological features were found in cranium bones, especially in frontal and occipital bones. The mandible was found to have four distinctive morphological features concentrated in the mandibular ramus (ramus mandibulae). The frontal sinuses in raccoon dog, unlike in red fox, occupy the entire surface of the zygomatic processes and are divided into small cavities by well-developed osseous partitions that are very thin in red fox. Computed tomography performed for the sagittal skull area revealed two prominent osseous partitions in the median part of the frontal sinuses in raccoon dogs and one partition in red fox. The maximum length, width and height of the frontal sinus cavity are larger in red fox than in raccoon dog (p < 0.001).