Anatomy, Artistic; Animals in art; Zoological illustration
In the carnivora, these crests are situated, throughout their whole
length, in the median line, the temporal fossæ being, accordingly, as
extended as they possibly can be. In certain species, the development of
these crests is such that they form by their union a vertical plate,
which, in separating the two temporal fossæ, gives them a greater depth.
In the pig, the parietal crests, analogous in this respect to the
temporal curved lines of the parietal bones of man, are separated by an
interval, proportionately less extended, however, than that of the human
skull. The parietal bone in the ox and the sheep does not enter into the
formation of the anterior surface of the skull; it is formed by an
osseous plate, narrow and elongated transversely, which, with the
occipital bone, constitutes the base of the region of _the nape of the
neck_. It is bent upon itself at the level of its lateral portions so as
to occupy the temporal fossa.
The anterior surface of the frontal bone, which is depressed in the
median line in the dog, but plane in the horse, is limited by two
crests, which, situated on the prolongation of the parietal crests,
diverge more and more from one another in proportion as they occupy a
lower position. This surface terminates externally in two processes,
which are the homologues of the external orbital processes of the human
frontal bone.
The superior border of these orbital processes, situated on the
prolongation of the corresponding parietal crests, contributes to limit
the temporal fossa. Each of these orbital processes terminates in the
following manner: In the bear, dog, cat, and pig, in which the orbital
cavities are incompletely bounded by bone, this process, slightly
developed, is not in connection, by its inferior extremity, with any
other part of the skeleton of the region. In the ox and the sheep, it
articulates with a process of the malar bone. In the horse, it
articulates with the zygomatic process of the temporal bone. The
inferior margin of this process forms a part of the boundary of the
anterior opening of the orbital cavity.
The supra-orbital foramen, which does not exist in carnivora, occupies
in the horse the base of the orbital process. In the ox, it is situated
a little nearer the middle line; and its anterior orifice opens into an
osseous gutter which is directed upwards towards the base of the horn,
while inferiorly it meets the inferior border of the frontal bone; in
the sheep this groove is but slightly developed. In this latter, as in
the ox, it is the frontal bone which forms the most elevated portion of
the skull. In fact, being bent upon itself at a certain level, its
external surface is formed of two planes: one, posterior, which is
inclined downwards and directed backwards; the other, anterior, is also
inclined downwards, but with a forward obliquity. At the union of these
planes the bone forms an elbow, on either side of which are found the
osseous processes on which the horns are mounted.
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