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Lecture Notes: Animal Morphology & Anatomy by Ms. Manilyn C. Lopez

PARTIDO STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Goa, Camarines Sur


LECTURE NOTES ON ANIMAL MORPHOLOGY AND ANATOMY


Topic: THE SKULL AND VISCERAL SKELETON

- The vertebrate skull consists of 3 parts: neurocranium, dermatocranium, and splanchnocranium.
- Classification:
Neurocranium
Dermatocranium
Splanchnocranium: visceral skeleton
Palatoquadrate cartilage and replacement bones
Meckel's cartilage and replacement bone
Skeleton of the branchial arches
3. Neurocranium: primary braincase that (1) protects brain, (2) arises as cartilage, which (3) is replaced by bone
(except in cartilaginous fish). Similar development occurs in all vertebrates.
Formation: arises from paired prechordal and parachordal cartilage beneath the brain. Cartilage also develops
around the olfactory and otic capsules (and may develop around the eye). As development progresses, parachordal
cartilage unite to form the basal plate and unites with the otic capsules, while prechordal cartilage forms the
ethmoid plate and unites with the olfactory cartilage.
Further development involves formation of walls and, in lower vertbrates, a cartilaginous roof (tectum). Fenestra
and foramina accomodate blood vessels and cranial nerves.
Parachordal cartilage arises from mesenchyme of the lateral plate mesoderm, while prechordal cartilage arises
from neural crest ectoderm.
Cartilaginous neurocrania in adult vertebrates:
Cyclostomes: individual components remain more or less independent throughout life.
Cartilaginous fish: components unite to form an adult chondrocranium which encloses the brain.
Lower bony fish: a cartilaginous neurocranium persists in adult chondrosteans and holosteans.
However, this cartilage is overlain with dermal bone.


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Lecture Notes: Animal Morphology & Anatomy by Ms. Manilyn C. Lopez
Ossification centers in the neurocranium: multiple, separate areas where endochondral ossification occurs in
bony vertebrates. Major regional groups include:
Occipital centers - as many as four areas around the foramen magnum (2 exoccipitals, basioccipital,
and supraoccipital)
Sphenoid centers - under the midbrain and pituitary gland include the basisphenoid and presphenoid.
These together with lateral sphenoid elements (orbitosphenoid, pleurosphenoid) form
the adult sphenoid bone.
Ethmoid centers - anterior to sphenoid. Form the ethmoid plate and olfactory capsules. Ethmoid tends
to remain cartilaginous even in mammals. Cribiform plate allows passage of olfactory nerves to the
olfactory epithelium.
Otic centers - several bones form here and may be replaced or fuse together, eg. the
prootics, opisthotic, and epiotics unite to form the petrosal bone which then
fuses with the squamosal bone to form a temporal bone.
4. Dermatocranium: these are the membrane bones of the skull and may have originated in the bony dermal armor
of the ostracoderms.
In modern vertebrates including man, membrane bones of the head originate from subdermal mesenchyme of
neural crest and lateral plate mesoderm rather than dermal mesenchyme.
Basic structural elements include roofing bones of the neurocranium, marginal bones of the upper jaw, bones of
the primary palate, and opercular bones.
Roofing bones: paired and unpaired bones that in crossopterygians extend down the mid-dorsal line from
the nares to the occiput. Include nasals, frontals, parietals, and dermoccipitals.
Around the orbit of the eye were the lacrimal, prefrontal, postfrontal, postorbital, and jugal.
At the posterior angle of the skull were intertemporal, supratemporal, tabular, squamosal, and quadrojugal bones.
Marginal bones (upper jaw): palatoquadrate cartilage becomes ensheathed by premaxillae and maxillae.
Primary palatal bones: form the roof of the oropharyngeal cavity.
In crossopterygeans and primative tetrapods, these membrane bones included a parasphenoid
and paired volmers, palatines, pterygoids, and ectopterygoids.
The primary palate is still present in modern tetrapods as the roof of the nasal cavity.
The oral and nasal cavities are divided by a secondary palate.

Opercular bones: protect the operculum, a flap of tissue from the hyoid arch. When present, opercular bones
are dermal. Absent in tetrapods. Major bones include the opercular, preoperculars, suboperculars,
and interoperculars.

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Lecture Notes: Animal Morphology & Anatomy by Ms. Manilyn C. Lopez

Skull and Visceral Skeleton II
Neurocranial-Dermatocranial complex of bony fish:
1. Chondrosteans: this superorder includes the spoonbill and paddlefish. In these animals the neurocranium
remains cartilaginous throughout life. Traces of ossification occur in the otic capsules and in that portion of the sphenoid
that contributes to the orbit of the eye. Dermal bones may obscure the neurocranium.
2. Holosteans: Bowfin and garfish have skulls similar to the chondrosteans with the neurocrania remaining
mostly cartilaginous. Most obvious are the dermal bones which are sculptured to correspond to the underside of the
dermis.
3. Teleosts: modern teleosts show skulls which are highly specialized and diverse, corresponding to the diverse
feeding habits of this group. Bones associated with the jaws of a typical teleost include the maxillae, premaxillae,
dentary, articular, quadrate and symplectic. Common roofing bones are the frontal, parietal, supraoccipital, and
posttemporal.
4. Dipnoans: lungfish have similarities to all of the previous groups and yet show obvious differences. Typically the
dipnoan skull is more conservative. The dermatocranium has evolved into only a few bony plates while the neurocranium
remains cartilaginous.
The Neurocranial-Dermatocranial complex of modern tetrapods
1. Amphibians: neurocranium incomplete dorsally and largely cartilaginous. Articulating with the otic capsule is
the columella which conducts sound from the eardrum to the capsule (comes from the hyomandibula). Dermatocranium
lacks the bones that surround the orbit except for the lacrimal and prefrontal. Temporal bones are also missing or reduced.
In the otic region, only the squamosal and quadrojugal remain. The primary palate has been altered to accomodate the
eyes.
2. Reptiles: living orders show a well ossified neurocranium with a single occipital condyle and a larger number of
membrane bones than amphibians. Many possess a parietal foramen, temporal fossae, and a complete secondary palate.
Temporal fossae: openings in the temporal region of amniotes bounded by one or more bony arches. Early stem reptiles
had none (anapsid), which is also the condition in modern turtles. The synapsid condition involves a temporal
fossa bounded by postorbital, squamosal, and jugal bones; today this is the zygomatic arch of the mammalian skull. The
diapsid skull was characteristic of ancestral snakes and lizards. Extant snakes and lizards, have modified diapsid skulls.
Secondary palates: appear first in reptiles as a horizontal partition that divides the oral cavity into oral and
nasal passages. In crocodilians, palatal processes of the premaxillae, maxillae, palatine, and pterygoid bones meet in the
midline to form a secondary palate. In mammals, the premaxillae (not in humans), maxillae, and palatine bones form the
secondary palate.
Cranial kinesis: independent movement of one or more parts of the neurocranial-dermatocranial complex. In the case
of lizards, the quadrate, upper jaw, orbital bones, and the parietal bone may move as a unit, independent of the braincase.
3. Birds: similar to reptilian skull with modifications for flight and feeding. Some roofing bones lost; dermal bones reduced.
4. Mammals: here the dentary bone becomes the sole bone of the lower jaw. Neurocranium incomplete with fontanels in
newborns.

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Lecture Notes: Animal Morphology & Anatomy by Ms. Manilyn C. Lopez
Bregmatic bones may ossify in the frontal fontanele of some species (a single bone is sometimes found in
humans). Ossification centers in the neurocranium are similar to those previously described. Dermatocranium represented
by pairs of premaxillae, maxillae, jugals, nasals, lacrimals, and squamosals. Frontals, parietals, and interparietals
complete the series.

The Visceral Skeleton:
The splanchnocranium is the skeleton of the pharyngeal arches in fish (jaws and gill arches) and has given rise to some
very interesting structural components in mammals.
1. Sharks: visceral skeleton consists of cartilage in each arch as well as median basihyal and basibranchial cartilages in
the floor of the pharynx. First arch modified for feeding as the mandibular arch. Consists of the palatoquadrate and
Meckel's cartilages. The second, or hyoid arch, components include the hyomandibular (dorsally) and ceratohyal (lateral)
cartilage. Articulation of the palatoquadrate and Meckel's cartilages includes the hyomandibular in a movable joint.
The hyomandibula is bound by ligaments to the otic capsule and thus suspends the jaws from the neurocranium: hyostylic
jaw suspension. Amphystylic attachment, where the palatoquadrate is attached at several locations to the neurocranium, is
seen in some ancient sharks. Autostylic attachment occurs when the palatoquadrate is fused to the neurocranium.

2. Bony fish: embryonic cartilage is ensheathed by membrane bone.
Palatoquadrate is overgrown by premaxillae and maxillae. Palatal region replaced by palatine and ectopterygoids
while the posterior tip ossifies to form the quadrate bone. The caudal end of Meckel's cartilage forms the articular
bone, while the remainder forms the dentary, surangular, and angular bones. Hyoid cartilages form symplectic, interhyals,
and epihyals. Articulation of the jaw may involve the symplectic and quadrate, or symplectic, quadrate, and lower jaw.
3. Tetrapods: modifications of visceral skeleton correspond with adaptational changes for terrestrial life. Palatoquadrate
and Meckel's cartilage become ensheathed by dermal bones: premaxillae, maxillae, and palatal bones
(palatoquadrate); quadrate becomes site of articulation with lower jaw in tetrapods below mammals (becomes incus in
mammals); Dentary, angular, surangular, splenial, coronoids, prearticulars, and articulars form in Meckel's (articular bone
articulates with quadrate, except mammals where it forms the malleus). A new articulation formed between the dentary
bone and the squamosal, now known as the temporomandibular joint. Note that mammals have only the dentary bone
forming the lower jaw.
Remember the the hyomandibula becomes the stapes (columella).
The remainder of the visceral skeleton contributes to the support of the larynx.