May-Davis Sharon, Minowa Fumiko, Brown Wendy Y
University of New England, Canine and Equine Research Group, Armidale 2350, Australia.
Minowa Horse Clinic Co., Ltd., Tokyo 144-0033, Japan.
J Equine Sci. 2020;31(4):93-94. doi: 10.1294/jes.31.93. Epub 2020 Dec 18.
The Yonaguni pony is a rare breed of pony that has remained isolated on the westernmost island of Japan and may well retain normal morphological traits currently lost in most domestic horses (Equus caballus), such as the attachment of the nuchal ligament lamellae (NLL) from C2-C7. Recent research has found that NLL attachments are no longer present at C6 and C7 in most modern domesticated horses. This study investigated the attachments of the NLL in three Yonaguni ponies; 2 were examined in situ(deceased), and 1 was examined in vivo via ultrasound. The aim was to verify the attachments and compare the morphology to that in equids from previous studies. The in situ (2/2) and in vivo (1/1) findings revealed that the NLL was attached from C2-C7 in the Yonaguni ponies.
与那国矮种马是一种稀有的矮种马品种，一直孤立在日本最西端的岛屿上，很可能保留了目前大多数家马（家马）所丧失的正常形态特征，比如从C2到C7的项韧带板（NLL）附着情况。最近的研究发现，在大多数现代家养马中，C6和C7处已不再有NLL附着。本研究调查了3匹与那国矮种马的NLL附着情况；2匹在死后进行了原位检查，1匹通过超声进行了活体检查。目的是验证附着情况，并将形态与之前研究中的马科动物进行比较。原位（2/2）和活体（1/1）检查结果显示，与那国矮种马的NLL从C2到C7均有附着。
