Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, 83523, Egypt.
Department of Biological and Geological Sciences, Faculty of Education, Ain Shams University, Roxy, Cairo, Egypt.
BMC Vet Res. 2022 May 12;18(1):173. doi: 10.1186/s12917-022-03275-8.
The Egyptian red fox (Vulpes vulpes aegyptiaca) and Egyptian Baladi dog (Canis familiaris) are two members of the Family Canidae that are widely distributed in Egypt. The skulls of different Canid species vary greatly in their size and shape; therefore, they can be used as a tool to study the evolution and evolutionary history of these animals. The craniometric measurements are crucial for species identification and determination of the specific sites for nerve blocks. The present study compared the craniometric measurements of the red fox and Baladi dog skulls by measuring 47 parameters on each skull and calculation of 8 indices. The red fox skull had significantly lower values of 41 craniometric measurements (approximately 87% of the measurements done), including skull length, width, and height, cranial length and width, palatal and mandibular length, and dental measurements. In contrast, the red fox had significantly higher values of only 3 measurements (approximately 6% of the measurements done) including the tympanic bulla measurement. While only three skull measurements did not differ significantly between the red fox and dog. Statistics revealed that domestic dog had significantly higher values of foramen magnum and palatine indices, and significantly lower value of nasal index than those of red fox. The present work reported variations in the gross and craniometric measurements of skull between the red fox and dog. The measured cranial parameters of both adult animals provide valuable information that can be used in ecological studies, comparative anatomy, and clinical veterinary sciences.
埃及红狐（Vulpes vulpes aegyptiaca）和埃及巴尔迪狗（Canis familiaris）是犬科家族中广泛分布于埃及的两个成员。不同犬科物种的头骨在大小和形状上差异很大；因此，它们可以被用作研究这些动物进化和进化历史的工具。颅测量对于物种鉴定和确定神经阻滞的特定部位至关重要。本研究通过测量每个头骨的 47 个参数并计算 8 个指数，比较了红狐和巴尔迪狗头骨的颅测量值。红狐头骨的 41 个颅测量值（约占测量值的 87%）显著降低，包括头骨长度、宽度和高度、颅长和颅宽、腭骨和下颌骨长度以及牙齿测量值。相比之下，红狐只有 3 个测量值（约占测量值的 6%）显著升高，包括鼓室测量值。虽然只有三个头骨测量值在红狐和狗之间没有显著差异。统计数据显示，家犬的枕骨大孔和腭指数显著高于红狐，而鼻指数显著低于红狐。本研究报告了红狐和狗之间头骨的大体和颅测量值的变化。这两种成年动物的测量颅参数提供了有价值的信息，可用于生态研究、比较解剖学和临床兽医科学。
