Annelise Swords, Michael Cramberg, Seth Parker, Anchal Scott, Stephanie Sopko, Ethan Taylor, Bruce A. Young
{"title":"The Crocodylian proatlas functions to redistribute venous blood and cerebrospinal fluid","authors":"Annelise Swords, Michael Cramberg, Seth Parker, Anchal Scott, Stephanie Sopko, Ethan Taylor, Bruce A. Young","doi":"10.1002/jmor.21683","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>The proatlas, a bone located between the skull and the neural spines of the cervical vertebrae, is best known from reptiles. Most previous studies of the proatlas have centered on its developmental, debating the relationship between the proatlas and the cervical neural arches. The present study was intended as a description of the proatlas in the American alligator (<i>Alligator mississippiensis</i>) and an experimental test of its hypothesized role in venous blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) distribution. In <i>Alligator</i>, the proatlas is chevron-shaped; ventrally it has a loose connection to the dorsal surface of the first cervical vertebrae, dorsally it has a robust elastic tissue tether on the otoccipital and supraoccipital bones. The ventral surface of the proatlas parallels the dorsal margin of the foramen magnum and rests on the dorsal surface of the spinal venous sinus. Experimental manipulation of the proatlas demonstrated that displacement of the proatlas causes pressure changes in both the spinal venous sinus and the enclosed spinal CSF. The results of this study represent the first demonstration of an explicit functional role for the proatlas, the circulation of fluids between the cranial and spinal compartments of the central nervous system.</p>","PeriodicalId":16528,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Morphology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jmor.21683","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Morphology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jmor.21683","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ANATOMY & MORPHOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The proatlas, a bone located between the skull and the neural spines of the cervical vertebrae, is best known from reptiles. Most previous studies of the proatlas have centered on its developmental, debating the relationship between the proatlas and the cervical neural arches. The present study was intended as a description of the proatlas in the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) and an experimental test of its hypothesized role in venous blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) distribution. In Alligator, the proatlas is chevron-shaped; ventrally it has a loose connection to the dorsal surface of the first cervical vertebrae, dorsally it has a robust elastic tissue tether on the otoccipital and supraoccipital bones. The ventral surface of the proatlas parallels the dorsal margin of the foramen magnum and rests on the dorsal surface of the spinal venous sinus. Experimental manipulation of the proatlas demonstrated that displacement of the proatlas causes pressure changes in both the spinal venous sinus and the enclosed spinal CSF. The results of this study represent the first demonstration of an explicit functional role for the proatlas, the circulation of fluids between the cranial and spinal compartments of the central nervous system.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Morphology welcomes articles of original research in cytology, protozoology, embryology, and general morphology. Articles generally should not exceed 35 printed pages. Preliminary notices or articles of a purely descriptive morphological or taxonomic nature are not included. No paper which has already been published will be accepted, nor will simultaneous publications elsewhere be allowed.
The Journal of Morphology publishes research in functional, comparative, evolutionary and developmental morphology from vertebrates and invertebrates. Human and veterinary anatomy or paleontology are considered when an explicit connection to neontological animal morphology is presented, and the paper contains relevant information for the community of animal morphologists. Based on our long tradition, we continue to seek publishing the best papers in animal morphology.