Morphometric Changes in Polish Konik Mares After Nearly a Hundred Years of the Breed's Existence.

The study was carried out on 126 mares of the Polish Konik horse breed. Mares were bred under a stable system housing and they came from five leading conservation breeding centres. The mares were divided into three age groups: 3-5 years old, 6-9 years old and over 10 years old. Each animal was characterized using 40 morphometric measurements. Discriminant analysis proved the exterior differences of mares in terms of the analysed metric values. It was concluded that the morphotype of modern Polish Konik mares is statistically significantly influenced by the following traits: neck ventral length, forearm circumference, distance between the vascular notch (incisura vasorum facialium) and the oral angle (angulus oris), distance between the margo coronalis ungulae and the margo solearis ungulae of the thoracic limb, thorax circumference and pelvis width. Conformation traits of the studied Polish Konik mares show multidirectional changes, prevailingly an upward trend in the mean values. However, shoulder height turned out to be definitely the least modified trait. Results obtained in the research presented herein may be a confirmation of progressing exterior transformations, which have been identified in the new generation, namely in the youngest group of mares of this breed.

Comparative anatomy of pectoral girdle and pectoral fin in Russian sturgeon and American paddlefish.

Acipenseriformes occupy an important place in the evolutionary history. Skeleton of their pectoral fins has elements related to teleosts, but also to tetrapods. This article summarises and compares anatomical structure of the pectoral girdle and pectoral fin of Russian sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii) and American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula). These species possess pectoral fins with some distinctive features in their structure. The pectoral girdles are composed of both cartilaginous and ossified elements. Unlike sturgeons, American paddlefish does not have an interclavicle and suprascapular cartilage. Moreover, its cleithrum doesn't form medially directed lamina. The quantity of the proximal radials in the investigated fish species are not the same. The dorsal and ventral muscles, which act on the pectoral fin of Russian sturgeon and American paddlefish, are not equally developed. In our opinion, this is caused by the differences in the mode of life, motility of fins, as well as by stabilisation of body during swimming.

Volume calculation of the cattle (Bos taurus L.) and the water buffalo (Bos bubalis L.) metapodia with stereologic method.

In this study, stereological volume estimations using 26 cattle metapodia (26 metacarpal and 26 metatarsal bones) and 8 water buffalo metapodia (8 metacarpal and 8 metatarsal bones) were made. For this purpose metapodia were parallel sectioned at 1 cm intervals according to Cavalieri principle. Grids with 0.4 cm probe intervals were superimposed on top of these sections and the matching points were counted. All of the bone structures and medullar cavity volumes were calculated with the data obtained from a formulation (V = t × a(p) × ΣP) as a spreadsheet using Microsoft Excel® Windows XP. In addition, percent ratio of this volume to whole bone volume was calculated. The mean ratio of bone marrow space to whole bone structure volume equals 15% in all of the cattle and buffalos. The difference between whole bone volumes of cattle and water buffalo was significant (p < 0.05) while the difference in volume of medullary cavity (cavum medullare) was not significantly different between the two investigated species. The aim of current study is to present a new method that can be used for the volumes calculation of whole bones and medullary cavity in metapodial bones and their percentages.

Height at the withers estimation in the horses based on the internal dimension of cranial cavity.

The investigations were carried out on 17 modern half-breed horse skulls and their metacarpal and metatarsal bones. The basal length (BL), total length (TL), internal cranial cavity dimension and maximal length of metacarpus and metatarsus and maximal lateral length of metacarpus and metatarsus were measured according to Kiesewalter and von den Driesch. During height at the withers estimation, the Kiesewaler and Vitt methods were used. The Wyrost and Kucharczyk mathematical formula was modified for height at the withers calculation (Hestmd = 1.016 × D) in horses. All height at the withers estimation methods were statistically analysed and compared. The analysis of variance ANOVA proved the lack of significant difference between the investigated values. The results achieved using Wyrost and Kucharczyk modified method are strongly comparable to Kiesewalter methods results computed using the metacarpal and metatarsal bones measurements. The height at the withers calculated on the basis of TL slightly differs from 2 above-mentioned methods. The BL Vitt's method was the least exact.