Gross and histological study of nasal and brain olfactory structures in the grasscutter (Thryonomys swinderianus, Temminck)
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Date
2021Author
Kavoi, Boniface
Ojoo, Rodi
Boateng, Kwadwo
Kiama, Stephen
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The major drawback of the efforts currently
being made to domesticate grasscutters (GRCs)
is the paucity of data on their biology particularly
in connection with sensory related reactions. We
investigated, both grossly and histologically, the
qualitative and quantitative features of the GRC
nasal and brain olfactory components with a view to
understanding their morphofunctional adaptations.
At the caudal roof of the nasal cavity, the olfactory
mucosa (OM), whose basic histology was similar
to that of other mammals, covered a set of five
cylindrical-shaped ethmoturbinates. Olfactory bulb
(OB) and olfactory brain components (OBC) (i.e., OB,
olfactory tract and stria) constituted 0.55 and 1.26%
of the entire brain volume respectively. Relative to
the cerebral hemispheres, respective proportions
for lengths and breadths were 72.23% for OBC and
34.38% for OB. Regarding the OM, epithelial height
and axon bundle diameters were 76.3 ± 5.4 µm and
70.6 ± 8.6 µm respectively while volume fractions
were 31.2 ± 4.4% for the bundles and 49.7 ± 5.1%
for Bowman’s glands. These findings reveal that the anatomical design of the GRC OM and OBC follows
the general patterns observed in other mammals
and are refined to levels that appear to correspond
to demands in olfactory function vis-à-vis behavior
and ecology.
URI
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Boniface-Kavoi/publication/353462552_Gross_and_histological_study_of_nasal_and_brain_olfactory_structures_in_the_grasscutter_Thryonomys_swinderianus_Temminck/links/60feb2911e95fe241a8d5ca8/Gross-and-histological-study-of-nasal-and-brain-olfactory-structures-in-the-grasscutter-Thryonomys-swinderianus-Temminck.pdfhttp://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/155271
Citation
Kavoi, Boniface, et al. "Gross and histological study of nasal and brain olfactory structures in the grasscutter (Thryonomys swinderianus, Temminck)." Eur J Anat 25.4 (2021): 423-431.Publisher
University of Nairobi
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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