FEATURES OF THE ANATOMICAL STRUCTURE OF THE CAT'S SKULL

Abstract

The article considered the morphological and anatomical structure of one of the organs of the axial skeleton of cats, namely the bones of the skull. In the study, well-known complex classical morphological and anatomical methods of experimental research were used. Specific anatomical features of the bone structure of the skull of domestic cats (domesticus cattus) are determined. The structure of the skeleton of cats is similar to the skeleton of other predators. There are many peculiarities in the structure of the bone structure of the facial and brain parts of the stomach of cats of various breeds. The skull of cats has the shape of an irregular pyramid, consists of three anatomically separated units, its base faces the spine, and the top is the free front end, which forms the entrance to the oral and nasal cavities. The cerebral part of the skull of cats consists of four odd bones and three even bones. Unpaired include occipital, sphenoid, interparietal and ethmoid, paired include parietal, temporal and frontal. The occipital bone of a cat is located in the occipital region, consists of a body, scales, lateral parts, which include condyles and jugular processes. The occipital bone of cats forms the entire occipital area and partially extends to the dorsal surface. Rostral to the occipital bone is the sphenoid bone. It has a body, temporal and orbital wings, and a pterygoid process and openings for the passage of blood vessels and nerves. At the border of the brain and facial part lies the ethmoid bone, which consists of a labyrinth and bony plates, one of which, namely, is perforated and forms this border. The frontal bone lies rostral. It is convex, its zygomatic process has the shape of an elongated triangle, connects with the zygomatic arch ligament. There are no supraorbital foramina at its base. The cat's temporal bone has three parts, the scaly, petrous and tympanic, which fuse together early to house the middle and inner ear. The facial part of the skull of cats includes paired incisors, nasal, lacrimal, zygomatic, palatine, pterygoid, maxillary, mandibular bones and unpaired blade and hyoid skeleton. The nasal bones are expanded nasally, bordering the incisor bone, forming a process. The body of the incisor bone is short, compressed, the palatine cleft is cylindrical, there are cells for teeth. The maxillary bone is located dorsally in the oral cavity and ventrally in the nasal cavity. The lacrimal bone consists of two plates, the outer facial one has the appearance of a thin strip, connected to the orbital plate at an angle. The pterygoid bone is short, wide, adjoins the pterygoid process of the sphenoid bone with a sphenoid process, and the free end forms a hook. At the bottom of the nasal cavity lies an arrow-shaped lobe, which separates the choanae and to which the nasal septum is attached. The mandibular bone of cats belongs to the facial part of the skull, has a body and a mandibular branch. The body is well-defined, has a cellular edge with cells for teeth on the incisal part. There are six cells for incisors, closely spaced on both sides are cells for canines, one on each edge.