title: Vertebral formula in red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis) and hooded crane (Grus monacha).
abstract: Red-crowned cranes (Grus japonensis) are distributed separately in the east Eurasian Continent (continental population) and in Hokkaido, Japan (island population). The island population is sedentary in eastern Hokkaido and has increased from a very small number of cranes to over 1,300, thus giving rise to the problem of poor genetic diversity. While, Hooded cranes (Grus monacha), which migrate from the east Eurasian Continent and winter mainly in Izumi, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, are about eight-time larger than the island population of Red-crowned cranes. We collected whole bodies of these two species, found dead or moribund in eastern Hokkaido and in Izumi, and observed skeletons with focus on vertebral formula. Numbers of cervical vertebrae (Cs), thoracic vertebrae (Ts), vertebrae composing the synsacrum (Sa) and free coccygeal vertebrae (free Cos) in 22 Red-crowned cranes were 17 or 18, 9-11, 13 or 14 and 7 or 8, respectively. Total number of vertebrae was 47, 48 or 49, and the vertebral formula was divided into three types including 9 sub-types. Numbers of Cs, Ts, vertebrae composing the Sa and free Cos in 25 Hooded cranes were 17 or 18, 9 or 10, 12-14 and 6-8, respectively. Total number of vertebrae was 46, 47, 48 or 49, and the vertebral formula was divided into four types including 14 sub-types. Our findings clearly showed various numerical vertebral patterns in both crane species; however, these variations in the vertebral formula may be unrelated to the genetic diversity.
authors: School of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno Gakuen University, 582 Midori-machi, Ebetsu, Hokkaido 069-8501, Japan.
authors: Takeo
authors: T
authors: Hiraga
authors: Haruka
authors: H
authors: Sakamoto
authors: Sayaka
authors: S
authors: Nishikawa
authors: Ippei
authors: I
authors: Muneuchi
authors: Hiromi
authors: H
authors: Ueda
authors: Masako
authors: M
authors: Inoue
authors: Ryoji
authors: R
authors: Shimura
authors: Akiko
authors: A
authors: Uebayashi
authors: Nobuhiro
authors: N
authors: Yasuda
authors: Kunikazu
authors: K
authors: Momose
authors: Hiroyuki
authors: H
authors: Masatomi
authors: Hiroki
authors: H
authors: Teraoka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000235:genetics; D001837:Body Weights and Measures / Q000662:veterinary; D014644:Genetic Variation; D007564:Japan; D013045:Species Specificity; D013131:Spine / Q000033:anatomy & histology*