The Brain of the Domestic Bos taurus: Weight, Encephalization and Cerebellar Quotients, and Comparison with Other Domestic and Wild Cetartiodactyla.

The domestic bovine Bos taurus is raised worldwide for meat and milk production, or even for field work. However the functional anatomy of its central nervous system has received limited attention and most of the reported data in textbooks and reviews are derived from single specimens or relatively old literature. Here we report information on the brain of Bos taurus obtained by sampling 158 individuals, 150 of which at local abattoirs and 8 in the dissecting room, these latter subsequently formalin-fixed.

Forebrain neuroanatomy of the neonatal and juvenile dolphin (T. truncatus and S. coeruloalba).

Knowledge of dolphin functional neuroanatomy mostly derives from post-mortem studies and non-invasive approaches (i.e., magnetic resonance imaging), due to limitations in experimentation on cetaceans.

The claustrum of the bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus (Montagu 1821).

The mammalian claustrum is involved in processing sensory information from the environment. The claustrum is reciprocally connected to the visual cortex and these projections, at least in carnivores, display a clear retinotopic distribution. The visual cortex of dolphins occupies a position strikingly different from that of land mammals.

Immunofluorescence evidence of melanotrophs in the pituitary of four odontocete species. An immunohistochemical study and a critical review of the literature.

Cetaceans share peculiar features of their pituitary glands, with a complete separation of pars distalis and pars nervosa by a dural septum and the absence of an intermediate lobe and cleft. In most mammals the pars intermedia is the main source of circulating α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH), derived from a large precursor called proopiomelanocortin (POMC), which also generates adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in the adenohypophysis. The lack of an intermediate lobe in cetaceans led us to investigate whether their glands are able to produce α-MSH, and if this hormone is secreted by a distinct population of melanotrophs or by corticotrophs in the pars distalis.

Evidence of melatonin secretion in cetaceans: plasma concentration and extrapineal HIOMT-like presence in the bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus.

The pineal gland is generally believed to be absent in cetaceans, although few and subsequently unconfirmed reports described the organ in some species. The recent description of a complete and photographed pineal body in a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) prompted us to examine a series of 29 brains of the same species, but no gland was found. We then decided to investigate if the main product of the gland, melatonin, was nevertheless produced and present in the plasma of this species.

Bone density distribution patterns in the rostrum of delphinids and beaked whales: evidence of family-specific evolutive traits.

Toothed whales have undergone a profound telescopic rearrangement of the skull, with elongation of facial bones and formation of a hollow rostrum, filled in vivo by the mesorostral cartilage. In most species of the family Ziphiidae, this latter cartilage becomes secondarily ossified, producing in some cases the densest bone existing in nature. Starting from this observation, we wanted to investigate the patterns of distribution of bone mineral density (BMD) in the rostrum of two families of toothed whales with different ecological and behavioral traits: Delphinidae and Ziphiidae.