Lawes I N, Andrews P L
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Sheffield.
J Anat. 1987 Oct;154:157-71.
The ferret skull was investigated to identify reliable extracranial landmarks for stereotaxy. The skulls of 56 ferrets of both sexes were measured in a stereotaxic apparatus. Neither body weight nor an index of skull length proved to be reliable predictors of intracranial location. Sutures fused too early in life for lambda and bregma to be useful as landmarks in adult ferrets. The position of extracranial features was used to predict the position of intracranial features. For rostral intracranial features, the supraorbital processes were found to be the best predictors. Although the occipital crest was not the best predictor for posterior structures, it was the most practical. Using these landmarks, the prediction of intracranial location could be improved by more than 30%. Sexual dimorphism was found for all features examined except those nearest the interaural line. Female skulls were significantly smaller than male skulls and had less prominent sagittal and occipital crests. Males showed a substantial variation in the structures surrounding the pituitary gland. Fitches were also found to differ from albinos in having a more marked development of the sagittal crest.
对雪貂颅骨进行了研究，以确定用于立体定位的可靠颅外标志。在立体定位仪中对56只雌雄雪貂的颅骨进行了测量。体重和颅骨长度指数都不能可靠地预测颅内位置。在成年雪貂中，人字缝和前囟在生命早期融合过早，无法用作标志。利用颅外特征的位置来预测颅内特征的位置。对于颅内靠前的特征，发现眶上突是最佳预测指标。虽然枕嵴不是后部结构的最佳预测指标，但它是最实用的。使用这些标志，颅内位置的预测准确率可提高30%以上。在所检查的所有特征中，除了最靠近耳间线的那些特征外，均发现了性别二态性。雌性雪貂的颅骨明显小于雄性，矢状嵴和枕嵴也不那么突出。雄性垂体周围结构存在很大差异。还发现黑眼雪貂与白化雪貂不同，其矢状嵴发育更明显。
