Here are a few pictures of an european
hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) I recently prepared for the teaching
collections of the University of Montpellier 2.
The skeleton was macerated and then
articulated using wire and glue.
Due to an unfortunate mistake (not my
own), some bones were lost during the cleaning process, including
some tail vertebrae, and the hyoid apparatus.
Unfortunately I don't have pictures of
the dissection, but it was obvious that this specimen had a severe
dental issue, with missing teeth and heavy calculus, most of which
came away during the cleaning process.
Close up on the cleaned skull
Palatine view of the skull before the
remaining teeth were glued back in place. Notice the damaged dental
alveoli.
But the most interesting feature was
not obvious until the bones were completely clean : several
vertebrae exhibited abnormal bone growth (known as osteophytes) on
the ventral side, especially in the lumbar region. This is consistent
with a degenerative disease known as spondylitis deformans, which
causes a stiffening of the axial skeleton among other things.
I'm currently working on a rattlesnake
exhibiting a much more impressive bone condition, but more on this one
in a later post.
