Some Aspects of Neuromorphology, and the Co-localization of Glial Related Markers in the Brains of Striped Owl (Asioclamator) from North East Nigeria.

The striped owl (Asioclamator) is unique with its brownish white facial disc and they are found in the north eastern part of Nigeria. Little is known in the literature on the basic neuroanatomy of this species. This study focuses on the histology and glial expression of some brain regions of the striped owl. Five owls were obtained in the wild, and their brains were routinely prepared for Haematoxylin and Eosin, and Cresyl violet staining. Immunostaining was done with anti-Calbindin, anti MBP, anti-GFAP, and anti-Iba-1 antibodies; for the expression of cerebellar Purkinje cells and white matter, cerebral astrocytes and microglia cells respectively. These were qualitatively described. We found that the hippocampal formation of the striped owl, though unique, is very similar to what is seen in mammals. The cerebellar cortex is convoluted, has a single layer of Purkinje cells with profuse dendritic arborization, a distinct external granular cell layer, and a prominent stem of white matter were seen in this study. The astrocytic population in cerebral gray is similar, though lacking in many processes as is typical in protoplasmic astrocytes, while the microglia were not strongly stained. The few stained microglia cells did not, however, show any features of activation. The striped owl's brain reveals some conserved aspects of cellular neuroanatomy in both the avian and mammals that are typical in these species. More work is however needed particularly in age related differences in these structures. This is perhaps the first report of Calbindin immunostaining in the brain of the striped owl.

Morphological analysis and osteometry of the foramen magnum of the one-humped camel (Camelus dromedarius).

The foramen magnum (FM) has been an integral component of studies on the ontogeny and evolutionary transformation of the skull. While its shape is variable in different species and breeds, the morphological variations and metrical indices of the foramen have scarcely been studied in camels. A total of 30 adult camel heads with equal sex disparity from three different locations of Northern Nigeria were used in this study for determining the morphological characteristics and osteometry of their foramen magnum. The study reported a mean foramen magnum height and width of 4.04 ± 0.15 and 3.70 ± 0.16 cm, and 3.65 ± 0.27 and 3.45 ± 0.21 cm in the overall males and females, respectively, and a foramen magnum index (FMI) in adult camels, which was over 100. We propose a classification for the morphology of foramen magnum in camels demarcating them into three types. The dorsal border of the foramen presented either a smoothly curved bony margin (type I), a small, ventrally directed, median bony protrusion (type II) or a dorsal notch (type III). No significant osteometric differences were found in any of the variables of the foramen magnum measured in the adult camels (FMH, FMW and FMI) of the various geographical locations, nor between animals of either gender except for the FMH that had a significantly higher mean value in overall males.

Bilateral opening in the nasal bones of goats in Nigeria

The present study was performed to observe the morphological details of the skulls of the major goat breeds in Nigeria involving 28 Red Sokoto, 24 Sahel and 12 West African Dwarf goats. The study revealed the presence of a bilateral opening in the nasal bones of the skulls. This unique occurrence appeared in about 70 of the Red Sokoto, less than 10 of the West African Dwarf and did not occur in the Sahel goat skulls. It was suggested that the structure which displayed a high level of breed specificity may be contributing to the weakness of the nasal area of the face. This finding to the best of our knowledge is rarely described in the literature and will be important in breed identification of goats and can contribute to the migratory history of the species.