In all the skulls of the large lop-eared rabbits, the supra-orbital
plates or processes of the frontal bones are much broader than in
the wild rabbit, and they generally project more upwards. In the
zygomatic arch the posterior or projecting point of the malar-bone
is broader and blunter; and in the specimen, fig. 8, it is so in a
remarkable degree. This point approaches nearer to the auditory
meatus than in the wild rabbit, as may be best seen in fig. 8; but
this circumstance mainly depends on the changed direction of the
meatus. The inter-parietal bone (see fig. 9) differs much in shape
in the several skulls; generally it is more oval, that is more
extended in the line of the longitudinal axis of the skull, than in
the wild rabbit. The posterior margin of “the square raised
platform”[25] of the occiput, instead of being truncated, or
projecting slightly as in the wild rabbit, is in most lop-eared
rabbits pointed, as in fig. 9, C. The paramastoids relatively to
the size of the skull are generally much thicker than in the wild
rabbit.
Illustration: Fig. 9—Posterior end of skull of Rabbits.
Illustration: Fig. 10—Occipital Foramen of Rabbits.
The occipital foramen (fig. 10) presents some remarkable differences:
in the wild rabbit, the lower edge between the condyles is considerably
and almost angularly hollowed out, and the upper edge is deeply and
squarely notched; hence the longitudinal axis exceeds the transverse
axis. In the skulls of the lop-eared rabbits the transverse axis
exceeds the longitudinal; for in none of these skulls was the lower
edge between the condyles so deeply hollowed out; in five of them there
was no upper square notch, in three there was a trace of the notch, and
in two alone it was well developed. These differences in the shape of
the foramen are remarkable, considering that it gives passage to so
important a structure as the spinal marrow, though apparently the
outline of the latter is not affected by the shape of the passage.
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