GROWTH-CONTROL OF THE CRANIAL BASE - A STUDY WITH EXPERIMENTALLY BIPEDAL MALE-RATS

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 149  (5) , 455-470
Abstract
In a cross-sectional study, the postnatal development of the skull, particularly that of the cranial base, was studied in experimentally bipedal male rats, up to the age of 46 wk. A total of 81 bipedal rats and a control group of 90 animals were studied. As compared with control rats, the bipedal rats had a definitely more spherical skull. This was the result of an increased height and stronger dorsal flexion of the anterior cranial base. As to the chondrocranial elements, the base-occiptal bone reached, on the average, the same length in bipedal rats as in controls. The basisphenoid bone was significantly shorter. Arguments are given to relate the latter phenomenon to the altered shape of the neurocranium. In this experimental approach, chondrocranial growth at the intersphenoidal synchrondrosis is controlled not only by intrinsic genetic factors, but also by local epigenetic and/or environmental factors.