The Hypertrophy of the Tympanic Bulla in three Species of Dasypodids (Mammalia, Xenarthra) from Argentina

S.M. SQUARCIA; NS. SIDORKEWICJ; E.B. CASANAVE

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MORPHOLOGY

Universidad de La Frontera, Sociedad Chil. de Anatomía

Lugar: Temuco; Año: 2007 vol. 25 p. 597 - 602

0717-9367

SUMMARY: Themorphology and relative size of the tympanic bulla of three species ofdasypodids from Argentina, Chaetophractus villosus, C. vellerosus and Zaedyus pichiy, were studied. The bulla was observed to bemorphologically similar and evidently hypertrophied in the three species. Thedegree of hypertrophy was higher in C.vellerosus and C. villosus than in Z. pichiy. By means of ANCOVA it was clear that, although C. villosus has a biggerskull than C. vellerosus, therelative size of their tympanic cavity was similar in both species. On theother hand, the skull of C. vellerosus and Z. pichiy are of similar size but the bulla was relatively shorter in the later.