Morphometric and radiographic characteristics of the skull in crested serpent eagle (Spilornis cheela) and brown wood owl (Strix leptogrammica)

Abstract

The previously reported information on the morphology of crested serpent eagle and brown wood owl skeleton is meager as compared to the fowl, thus, the present study was designed to provide the morphological features of the skull of both species. The specimens were procured from four crested serpent eagle and brown wood owls, brought from the Zoological Park, Aizawl for the post mortem examination conducted at the Department of Veterinary Pathology, College of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Aizawl, Mizoram. After the post-mortem examination, the collected specimens were macerated by the standard maceration technique and radiographs were taken at the Mizoram Health Centre, Aizawl. The skull of both the species consisted of neurocranium and viscerocranium which were separated by two large orbital cavities. The neurocranium was composed of single (occipital, sphenoid, ethmoidal) and paired (temporal, parietal and frontal) bones in both the species. The viscerocranium consisted of single bones (mandible, vomer and hyoid) and paired (quadrate, lacrimal, nasal, premaxilla, maxilla, zygomatic, palatine and pterygoid) bones. The skull of both the species was dolichocephalic as per the cephalic index, which was 52.63±0.04 and 68.56±0.03 in crested serpent eagle and brown wood owl, respectively. The results showed that there were variations in shape and components of crested serpent eagle and brown wood owl skull bones in comparison with other birds.