Abstract
Morphological characteristics of bones have shaped as a result of adaptation to life in the aquatic environment and whale diving habits. This study deals with the postnatal bone development and microscopic characteristics of bones of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Bone sections of the right humerus and the fifth right rib of 106 dolphins aged less than 1–21 years were used to determine the density of the primary, secondary and remodelling osteons, the magnitude of the area occupied by the osteons, and the number of osteon lamellae. Bone sections were analysed using a compound microscope with standard and polarized light. Our study showed the primary osteons of bones to occupy a smaller area than the secondary ones. The secondary osteon area in the humerus is significantly larger than that in the rib. All rib osteons are significantly denser than those of the humerus. In both bones, the number of osteon lamellae is higher in secondary than in primary osteons. The number of secondary and remodelling osteons and the areas occupied by them increase with age, as opposed to primary osteons in which a decrease was noted. The number of lamellae in primary osteons decreases with age, while in secondary osteons their number increases. Within the study frame, morphometric osteon values of the bottlenose dolphin were determined, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time ever as concerns the aquatic mammals.
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Acknowledgements
Funding of this study was provided by the Gesellschaft zur Rettung der Delphine, Munich, Germany, and the Croatian Veterinary Institute, Zagreb, Croatia. Many thanks to our colleagues Relja Beck, VMD, PhD, affiliated with the Croatian Veterinary Institute, Zagreb, for his help during microscopy, and to the retired Professor of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Zagreb Zvonimir Kozarić for the idea and useful suggestions.
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Conceptualization and methodology: MĐ; formal analysis, investigation and original text preparation: MZ; formal analysis: NM-S; resources and visualisation: TG and MM; review and editing: MĐ and SK.
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Zadravec, M., Maltar-Strmečki, N., Kužir, S. et al. Aging-related histomorphometric changes in cortical bone tissue of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Zoomorphology 139, 407–420 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-020-00487-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-020-00487-0