Prenatal (Second Trimester and Third Trimester) and Postnatal (Third and Fourth Week After Birth) Developmental Radiological Investigation of Sheep Skulls

Abstract

The skull is a complex, vital structure made up of many bones. It has been observed that studies on skulls help to determine species and sex. In recent years, craniometric studies have been frequently used to determine morphometric features in animals. In our study, 150 skulls were studied, 50 from the second trimester (25 males and 25 females), 50 from the third trimester (25 males and 25 females), and 50 from the third and fourth week after birth (25 males and 25 females). The skulls were sectioned by computerised tomography and stored in DICOM format. From the images, nine different measurements and five index calculations were made. The similarities and differences between species were determined by ignoring sex differences. Correlation analyses were performed to compare measurement parameters between animal species. In addition, the results of statistical analyses between sexes were evaluated without species distinction. SL, CW and ICI parameters were highly statistically significant between measurements in the second trimester, third trimester and postnatal group (p < 0.01). In the third trimester, the EHC measurement parameter was found to be highly significant between males and female (p < 0.01). In Table 5, the CL parameter was positively correlated with CW, IHC, EHC, ILC, ELC, FMW and FMH. There are very few studies on foetal development. It is predicted that the data obtained can be used in zoo-archaeology, anatomy, surgery and forensic medicine. In addition, radiographic determination of craniometric features will help in the treatment and prognosis of diseases.