Radiological Study on the Osteogenesis of the Dromedary Skull (Camelus dromedaries)

This work was carried out with the aim of studying the osteogenesis of the skull bones in the one-humped camel fetuses. A total of 26 fetuses were used. The fetuses CRL, ranged from 6.5 -100 cm long. After silver nitrate impregnation for some skulls, all the specimens were examined ra- diologically using latero-medial, and dorso-ventral projections. The study concluded that: (l) The facial bones develop mostly from one center of ossification while the cranial ones develop from more than one center. (2) Osteogenesis of the skull bones of the camel follows in general that of the other domestic animals. (3) An ossification center for the Os interpa- rietale could not be detected in the examined fetuses. It is also absent in the adult camel skulls. (4) The cranial bones of the one-humped camel showed a high degree of ossification at birth, like that of small ruminants.