Sex Wise Morphometrical Studies on the Skull Bones of Indian Mithun (Bos frontalis)

Background: There is scanty information on the morphometry of the skull of Indian mithun; therefore, the present study was designed to provide morphometric data of the skull of Indian mithun. Methods: The study was conducted on the skull bones of twelve (n=12) adult Indian mithun of either sex (n=6, male and n=6, female). The head region samples of naturally died mithun were collected from different parts of the Mizoram and Nagaland states of India from September, 2019 to March, 2020. In the present study, altogether, a total of forty-five parameters were taken in the skull bones of males and females of Indian mithun. Result: The biometrical observations on the different parameters of the skull of Indian mithun were found to be significantly (P<0.01, P<0.05) higher in the males than females. The measurements demonstrated that the skull of the mithun was elongated and dolichocephalic as per the value of the skull index. The skull index/ cephalic index was 48.76 +/- 0.03 in males and 48.71 +/- 0.02 in females of the mithun. The length, width of the skull was 44.52 +/- 0.02, 44.41 +/- 0.02 in males and 21.62 +/- 0.04, 21.57 +/- 0.05 in females of mithun, respectively. The orbital margin was circular and complete in mithun. The cranial cavity of mithun was oval in outline with a capacity of 530.00 +/- 0.27 cm(3) in males and 523.00 +/- 0.31 cm(3) in females. The foramen magnum was large, roughly oval with a foramen index as 96.93 +/- 0.06 in males and 97.19 +/- 0.04 in females. The present morphometrical studies on the skull of mithun can be useful to the wildlife professionals and zoo veterinarians for the determination of sex of this animal and distinguish from other domestic and wild animals for solving veterolegal cases.