THE ARTERIES OF THE ENCEPHALON BASE IN THE SELECTED REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SUIFORMES AND HIPPOPOTAMUSES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26873/SVR-2340-2026Abstract
The article provides general biological facts, which can be used to discuss the taxonomy of species, as well as information which may be useful for veterinarians working in zoos or saving and protecting wild animals in their natural environment. The aim of the study was to compare and describe the anatomy of the arteries of the encephalon base of the representatives of the Suiformes suborder and Hippopotamuses. Desert warthogs, Eurasian wild boars, collared peccaries, pygmy hippopotamuses and common hippopotamuses were analysed. Two research methods were used: corrosion casts of blood vessels were made after injecting stained vinyl superchloride into the common carotid arteries, and manual preparations were made after injecting stained latex and fixing in formalin. The research showed some common traits for all species of the Suiformes and Hippopotamuses, while maintaining distinctiveness at the family level. In the cranial cavity, the internal carotid artery divides into the rostral cerebral artery and the caudal communicating artery, forming the cerebral arterial circle, whose shape and vessel arrangement vary between species: figure-eight in wild boars and peccaries, flattened in warthogs, and triangular in hippopotamuses. The caudal arteries connect to the basilar artery, which is particularly large in hippopotamuses, and some vessels show unilateral or asymmetrical variations. Key findings are that the diameter of the rostral cerebral arteries are larger than the caudal part of the cerebral arterial circle, which varies in shape, and that the basilar artery is enlarged in hippopotamuses compared to Suiformes.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Maciej Zdun*, Aleksander F Butkiewicz, Oleg P. Melnyk, Marcin Komosa, Hieronim Frąckowiak
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