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Avascularity in the cortical bone of small bats as revealed by micro computed tomography (920.3)
Author(s) -
Pratt Isaac,
Walker Ernest,
Cooper David
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.920.3
Subject(s) - biology , laminar flow , anatomy , laminar organization , cortical bone , eptesicus fuscus , medullary cavity , computed tomography , zoology , medicine , physics , radiology , thermodynamics
The spatial distribution of vascular canals in cortical bone reflects the mechanical loading conditions present during the formation of the bone. In the flight bones of birds, these canals have a laminar pattern, oriented circumferentially around the medullary cavity. Evidence for this pattern and its relation to torsional loading has thus far come from histological studies, however vascular canals exist in 3D and their cross sections in a 2D slice may vary from their actual 3D morphology. We hypothesized that bats would show the same laminar pattern in their flight bones and that high resolution 3D imaging would better reveal the extent of the cortical network. We used micro‐computed tomography (micro‐CT) to examine the cortical network of two species of bats (Eptesicus fuscus pallidus, Lasiurus cinereus), two species of birds (Tyrannus verticalis, Seiurus aurocapillus), and two species of terrestrial mammals (Mus musculus, Eutamias minimus), all of similar size. Contrary to our expectations we found that the bats had cortices devoid of vascular canals. Compared to the terrestrial mammals, we found that the birds had a reduction in the number of cortical vascular canals present and did not exhibit the anticipated laminar pattern found previously in larger bird species.