CORTICAL BRANCHES OF THE MIDDLE CEREBRAL ARTERY IN EUROPEAN BADGER (Meles meles)

The pattern and variation of the cortical branches of the middle cerebral artery in European badger were studied for 64 cerebral hemispheres. It was found that the artery bifurcates into splits into ten permanent branches. Two olfactory arteries supply the area of the brain situated on the border between the old and the new cortex. The other eight branches get divided into three branches heading for the frontal region, two branches – to the parietal region and three temporal branches which supply only the new cortex. The frontal, parietal and temporal branches descended independently from the main trunk of the middle cerebral artery or formed a common trunk first. Common trunks for respective groups of branches have been described as the rostral, dorsal and caudal middle cerebral artery. The rostral olfactory artery in 6.3% of the cases investigated was an independent branch from the rostral cerebral artery.