Brain basal arteries in various species of Felidae.
Observations of the branching pattern of head and brain arteries in 10 species of the Felidae family were performed in casts prepared by filling the blood vessels of interest with appropriate kind of plastics. Arterial casts supported by bone structures were obtained as a result of biological maceration of animal heads, in which arteries were filled with vinyl superchloridae, whereas the preparations which were produced by means of Technovit resin were macerated chemically. As may be judged from the results obtained the brain blood supply in Felidae is characterized by obliteration of the extracranial segment of the internal carotid artery and by simultaneous formation of the rete mirabile of the maxillary artery. The arterial circle of the brain in animals from various subfamilies of Felinae and Pantherinae differed in shape. Vascular variation was found in the animals investigated. The arterial pattern of blood supply to the brain of Felidae differs from the vascular pattern of this region in other animals from the Carnivora order.
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000098:blood supply*; D002335:Carnivora / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification*; D002343:Carotid Artery, Internal / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D002536:Cerebral Arteries / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D016319:Corrosion Casting; D008438:Maxillary Artery / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D013045:Species Specificity