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First published online September 15, 2004
Journal of Experimental Biology 207, 3657-3665 (2004)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2004
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01207

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Structural and functional imaging of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) cranial anatomy

Dorian S. Houser¹, James Finneran², Don Carder², William Van Bonn², Cynthia Smith², Carl Hoh³, Robert Mattrey³ and Sam Ridgway^2,3,*

¹ BIOMIMETICA, La Mesa, CA 91942, USA
² Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, San Diego, CA 92152, USA
³ School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, CA 92103, USA

View larger version (90K): [in a new window]   Fig. 1. Spatial and morphologic relationship of the contiguous cranial air space (red) to the skull (white) of WEN. Panels correspond to the (A) ventral, (B) lateral, (C) anterior and (D) dorsal views. Discontinuous cranial air spaces, excluding the laryngeal air space (also in red), are not shown.

View larger version (154K): [in a new window]   Fig. 2. Spatial and morphologic relationship of the contiguous cranial air space (red) to the skull (white), auditory bulla (yellow), brain and spinal cord (light brown) and other soft tissues (blue) of the head of the bottlenose dolphin WEN. Discontinuous cranial air spaces, excluding the laryngeal air space, are not shown.

View larger version (55K): [in a new window]   Fig. 3. Regional identification of the bony nasal passages and sinus complex (according to Fraser and Purves, 1960) in (A) CIN and (B) WEN. The objects in the figure represent the actual air space not the tissue boundaries of the air space. Compartmentalization of the cranial air space results from the constriction of the nasal plug and the palatopharyngeus muscle. NP, nasal passages; PtS, primary pterygoid sinus; PtS OL, optic lobe of the pterygoid sinus; PtS ML, mesial lobe of the pterygoid sinus; MEC, middle ear complex; PmS, pre-maxillary sac; PaS, constriction of the palatopharyngeal sphincter.

View larger version (79K): [in a new window]   Fig. 4. Relationship of middle ear complex and other cranial air spaces (red) to the tympano-periotic complex (yellow) in the dolphin WEN. Views are from the (A) dorsal, (B) ventral and (C) lateral perspectives.

View larger version (31K): [in a new window]   Fig. 5. Multiple views of regional 99mTc-bicisate uptake in the dolphin WEN. The degree of uptake is directly related to the intensity of the region. Greatest uptake occurs in the brain, melon and bilaterally in the posterior region of the lower jaw. (A) Dorsally, uptake in the brain and melon are apparent. (B) Laterally, the melon (left), brain (top-center) and posterior region of the lower jaw (right) are apparent. (C) Ventrally, uptake in the lower jaw is notable bilaterally.

View larger version (78K): [in a new window]   Fig. 6. Sagittal midline view of 99mTc-bicisate uptake in the melon and brain of the dolphin WEN. Uptake of 99mTc-bicisate increases as the color scale progresses from blue to red. Greatest uptake occurs in the frontal region of the melon, suggesting that blood flow across the melon is distributed dorsally and anteriorly.

View larger version (87K): [in a new window]   Fig. 7. Sagittal midline section from the dolphin PET series displaying substantial uptake of FDG within the brain and nominal uptake by the melon (lighter, more intense regions correspond to greater uptake). The PET scan image was taken from the dolphin WEN.

View larger version (36K): [in a new window]   Fig. 8. Representation of co-registered and fused PET and CT scans taken from WEN. Uptake of FDG increases as the color scale progresses from blue to red. The brain is the predominant uptake site of FDG, but distributed uptake occurs throughout the peribullary, middle and posterior sinuses. From left to right, sequential images start with a midsaggital section and progress laterally to the right of the animal. Metabolic activity is notable within the ear cavities lying ventrolateral to the brain.