Animal osteology is the fundamental topic for learning veterinary anatomy for beginners. Here, I will describe the term animal osteology with its components so that you may easily understand what you should learn under this system.
Quick answer: The animal’s osteology is the framework upon which its body is built. It gives support, protection, and enables the animal to move.
So, let’s define the animal osteology perfectly with its components. I will also provide an overview of the animal skeletal system at the end of this article.
What is animal osteology?
Definition: The study of the bones, cartilages, and ligaments that make up the animal’s skeleton or framework of its body is osteology.
Thus, the skeleton gives the basis of external structure and appearance in animals. Most of the animals share a common or basic body plan with similarities or dissimilarities in their skeletal system. Variation in the skeletal system or skeleton occurs due to adaptation of the animal in their specific habitat and lifestyle.
In short, animal osteology deals with the detail knowledge of the components of the animal’s skeleton. Here, Figure 1 shows the animal’s skeleton (example: cow, goat) along with their components.
What is an animal skeleton?
Definition: The animal skeleton is the hardest structure that provides the framework of the body, a firm base to which the muscles of movement are attached, and protects the softer tissues enclosed within the framework.
Thus, the skeleton provides a wide range of functions in the animal’s body. The functions of the animal skeleton are –
- Support: it acts as the internal scaffold upon which the animal body is built.
- Muscle attachment: It provides surfaces for the muscle attachment.
- Movement / locomotion: The muscles operate a system of levers (bones) to bring about movement. Thus, the animal skeleton acts as the basis of movement.
- Protection: It protects the underlying soft tissues, organs, and structures of the animal’s body. For example, the animal brain is protected by the cranium bone of the skull.
- Storage: Animal skeleton acts as a store for the essential minerals, calcium, and phosphate.
- Haemopoiesis: It accommodates the hemopoietic tissue (the bone marrow).
Figure 2 shows the overview of the functions of the animal skeleton.
What are the components of the animal skeleton?
The components of the animal skeleton are –
- Bones,
- Cartilages, and
- Ligaments,
Bones: Bones are the principal component of the animal skeleton. Besides the formation of the animal skeleton, bones act as a lever for the muscles, protect the visceral organs in different regions of the body, manufacture haemopoietic tissue, and act as a reservoir of mineral salts.
Cartilages: Cartilages are the rough and specialized form of connective tissue that allow the tissue to bear mechanical stresses, support soft tissues, facilitate bone movements, and are also essential for the development and growth of long bones.
Ligaments: Ligaments are the binding materials of a joint that are made up chiefly of a closely packed bundle of collagen and are usually in the form of strong bands or membranes. They connect bone to bone of the skeleton, and the arrangement of the collagen bundle is less regular.
Here, Figure 3 shows the three main components (bones, cartilages, and ligaments) from the animal skeletal system (osteology).
Bones are the main topic of animal osteology
Yes, bones of the skeleton are the principal topic for learning animal osteology. You might know and identify the different bones in the animal skeleton.
The number of bones in an animal may vary, but the basic structural plan of the skeleton is almost similar in most domestic animals. You may identify the bones of the animal skeleton from its different regions (for example: bones of the forelimb, bones of the hindlimb, bones of the skull, and vertebral bones).
But you may also identify the bones from the axial and appendicular skeleton of any animal. Here, Figure 4 shows the bones from the axial and appendicular skeleton of the cow.
Classification of the animal bones
Based on the gross appearance of the different bones of the animal skeleton, they are classified into different groups –
- Long bones: example – Humerus of a cow,
- Modified long bones: example – bird’s clavicle,
- Miniature long bones: example – dog’s metacarpals,
- Short bones: example – carpal and tarsal of the cow,
- Flat bones: example – cow scapula,
- Irregular bones: example – cow’s vertebral bones (atlas, axis, thoracic vertebrae),
- Sesamoid bones: example – cow’s patella, proximal and distal sesamoids,
- Visceral bones: example – the os opticus of a bird, and
- Pneumatic bones: example – cow’s frontal bone, birds’ humerus,
Figure 5 shows the different types of bones from the cow’s skeleton.
You might also learn the following topics from the animal osteology section –
- Structure of a long bone of an animal, and
- Intramembranous and intracartilaginous ossification of the animal’s bone,
Why is cartilage important in animal osteology?
Cartilage is important in animal osteology as it performs numerous supportive functions. It is essential for the development and growth (IM/IC) of long bones both before and after birth.
You will find three types of cartilages (hyaline, elastic, and fibrocartilage) in the animal’s body. But the hyaline cartilage is the most common cartilage in the animal body and serves as a skeletal model for most bones.
The major functions of the cartilage are –
- It involves supporting the soft tissue of the body,
- It allows the tissue to bear the mechanical stresses without permanent distortion,
- The cartilage is a shock-absorbing and sliding area for an animal’s joints and facilitates bone movements.
- It is essential for the development and growth of the animal’s long bones in their skeleton,
Ligaments in the animal skeleton
You know the ligaments are the binding materials that are composed of bands or membranes of fibrous connective tissue and bind bone to bone. There are numerous ligaments while one bone binds with another bone of the animal skeleton.
Commonly, you will find the following ligaments in the joint (bone to bone connection) –
- Joint capsule or capsular ligament,
- Collateral ligament (lateral and medial),
- Intra-articular ligaments,
- Interosseous ligaments,
- Annular ligaments, and
- Different joint-specific ligaments,
Conclusion
So, the animal osteology deals with the three components (bones, cartilages, and ligaments) of the skeleton. It forms the framework of the animal body and supports, protects, and enables animals to move.
References
- Ghosh, R. K. : Primary veterinary anatomy, 2nd Edn.Current Books International, Kolkata.
- Getty, R,. Sission and Grossman’s The anatomy of the domestic animals, 5th Edn. W. B. Saynders and Co. Philadelphia (USA).
- Dyce, K. M., W. O. Sack and CSG Wensing : Text Book of Veterinary Anatomy, Lea & Febiger. Philadelphia
- Eurell and Frappier, Dellmann’s textbook of veterinary histology, 6th Edn. Blackwell publisher, USA.
