Comparative and functional anatomy of cerebrally related retial systems in the family Monodontidae (order Cetacea) ...

• Main Author: Vogl, Adalbert Wayne
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2010
• Subjects: Delphinapterus leucas; Monodon monoceros
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0095739; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0095739

In this study, I consider the comparative and functional anatomy of cerebrally related retial systems in the two constituent species (Monodon monoceros and Delphinapterus leucas) of the family Monodontidae (order Cetacea). The internal carotid arteries, the "classical" vessels of cerebral supply in vertebrates, are completely non-functional as cerebral supply vessels in the Monodontidae. Moreover, there are no other channels that contribute directly to intracranial supply. Rather, the brain, or more precisely, the entire central nervous system, is vascularized indirectly via an extensive arterial plexus or rete mirabile. This plexus is found in the thorax, lumbar region, neural canal and cranium. Vessels that contribute to retial formation are numerous and include those which in other mammals contribute directly to supply of the central nervous system and/or its membranes. Efferent retial vessels are few and include two pairs of subdural intracranial trunks that supply the brain, and numerous small segmental ...