Comparative Anatomical Description of Bovine and Equine Splanchnocranium Bone Segments

Abstract

The following study consisted of an anatomical description of the bony segments of the splanchnocranium of older animals, focused on horses (Equus caballus) and cattle (Bos taurus). The skull constitutes the bony skeleton of the head, housing the brain and sense organs; thus, it gives structural support to the face and contains the initial sections of the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems. It comprises a series of bones articulated with each other, allowing us to distinguish bone segments that limit the face (splanchnocranium). However, although the vast literature on their anatomy in these species is one of the contents in anatomy subject programs for students of the veterinary area, there are very few texts that generate a comparative differentiation in parallel to the time to study these structures. For this reason, we sought to create an article that allows a comparative start to be made to the head of larger animals, focused on cattle and horses, specifically at the level of the bones of the face or splanchnocranium. It was possible to distinguish a series of structural differences and dimensions between the bone segments of both species.