title: The cranial cervical ganglion and its branches in the White yak (Bos grunniens).
abstract: The heads of 12 White yaks (four castrated, four male and four female, 3-8 years old) were dissected to study the shape, location and branches of the cranial cervical ganglion macroscopically. The ganglion was a greyish arciform structure, with a mean length of 17.3 mm, a width of 8.0 mm and a thickness of 3.9 mm, located on the rostrolateral surface of m. longus capitis. Approximately 5% of the ganglion was covered laterally by the tympanic bulla and the rest by the m. stylohyoideus. The branches of the cranial cervical ganglion included the internal and external carotid nerves, the sympathetic trunk and communicating branches to the glossopharyngeal nerve, the pharyngeal branch of the vagus nerve and the hypoglossal nerve. In one specimen, the left cranial cervical ganglion was fusiform and only covered by the m. stylohyoideus. Gender differences of the cranial cervical ganglion in the White yak were not observed.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Arid and Grassland Ecology, Ministry of Education, Lanzhou University, China.  shaobp@lzu.edu.cn
authors.forename: B P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: Y P
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D005728:Ganglia, Sympathetic / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005930:Glossopharyngeal Nerve / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006257:Head / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D007002:Hypoglossal Nerve / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D008297:Male; D017783:Superior Cervical Ganglion / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D014630:Vagus Nerve / Q000033:anatomy & histology