An application of numerical taxonomy to the study of the cerebral cortex of Natrix maura (L).

Abstract

The separate cellular regions of the reptilian cerebral cortex were studied using Numerical Taxonomy. Three parameters were employed: a) The area occupied by each region at the several levels studied. b) The total area of the cell nuclei present in each level. c) The average are of these nuclei. Numerical Taxonomy resolves the problem by means of a dendrogram which represents the normalised distances, which indicate levels of similarity on absciassas. The elements studies are on the ordinate axis. The dendrogram shows the different levels of similarity existing between each one of the chosen populations. Depending upon the degree of similarity one may deduce the similarities or differences existing between these populations, and also the characteristics of each cellular population throughout the length of its presence in the cerebral cortex and the variations between the regions. These results, in the first place, relate to the four cortical regions: medialis cortex, dorsomedialis cortex, dorsalis cortex, and lateralis cortex, and in the second place, to each one of the regions within the entire telencephalic cortex.