Online first
Original article
Published online: 2024-11-07
Anatomical study of brachial plexuses of a koala, a Tasmanian devil, and a common ringtail possum
12
, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1
, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1
DOI: 10.5603/fm.102687
Pubmed: 39573975
Abstract
Background: Marsupials have a narrower range of forelimb morphological features than placental mammals. It is hypothesized that this is due to a constraint in the reproductive biology of marsupials. The constraint is that newborn marsupials must crawl into their mother’s pouch. However, anatomical knowledge of the brachial plexus in marsupials is scarce and has not been discussed. In the present study, the purpose is to examine the anatomy of the brachial plexuses of a koala, a Tasmanian devil, and a common ringtail possum and to discuss the brachial plexus of marsupials with reference to the previous reports.
Materials and methods: One adult koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) specimen, one adult Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), and one adult common ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus) were used in this study.
Discussion: The ventral rami of C5, C6, C7, C8, and T1 formed the brachial plexus in all 3 marsupials. Each nerve branch differed by one segment among the 3 marsupials. Therefore, the brachial plexus was considered in the form of a few differences among marsupials.
Conclusions: Because of a quite difficulty of getting an opportunity for anatomical examination on marsupials, an accumulation of cases like the present study is needed for future quantitative and qualitative analyses of the brachial plexus pattern of the marsupials.
Keywords: marsupialsbrachial plexuskoalaTasmanian devilcommon ringtail possummammals
References
- Aiyama S. On the medial brachial cutaneous nerve and the intercostobrachial nerve in Macaca cyclopis Swinhoe and Macaca irus F. Cuvier. Acta Anat Nippon. 1968; 43: 402–416.
- Anetai S, Tokita K, Anetai H, et al. Morphological significance of the medial brachial cutaneous nerve: An anatomical study of the brachial plexus in primates. Primates. 2023; 64(2): 261–272.
- Briscoe NJ, Kearney MR, Taylor CA, et al. Unpacking the mechanisms captured by a correlative species distribution model to improve predictions of climate refugia. Glob Chang Biol. 2016; 22(7): 2425–2439.
- Cheng C. The development of the shoulder region of the opossum, Didelphys virginiana, with special reference to the musculature. J Morphol. 2005; 97(3): 415–471.
- Cooper WJ, Steppan S. Developmental constraint on the evolution of marsupial forelimb morphology. Aust J Zool. 2010; 58(1): 1.
- Cork SJ, Hume ID, Dawson TJ. Digestion and metabolism of a natural foliar diet (Eucalyptus punctata) by an arboreal marsupial, the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus). J Comp Physiol. 1983; 153(2): 181–190.
- Emura K, Arakawa T, Terashima T. Anatomical study of the brachial plexus in the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus). Anat Rec (Hoboken). 2017; 300(7): 1299–1306.
- Gemmell RT, Veitch C, Nelson J. Birth in marsupials. Comp Biochem Physiol B. 2002; 131(4): 621–630.
- Gonzalez-Astudillo V, Allavena R, McKinnon A, et al. Decline causes of koalas in South East Queensland, Australia: a 17-year retrospective study of mortality and morbidity. Sci Rep. 2017; 7: 42587.
- Graves JA, Westerman M. Marsupial genetics and genomics. Trends Genet. 2002; 18(10): 517–521.
- Hall MI, Lindvall T, Suarez-Venot A, et al. Comparative anatomy of the felid brachial plexus reflects differing hunting strategies between Pantherinae (snow leopard, Panthera uncia) and Felinae (domestic cat, Felis catus). PLoS One. 2023; 18(8): e0289660.
- Hedberg C, DeSantis L. Dental microwear texture analysis of extant koalas: clarifying causal agents of microwear. J Zool. 2016; 301(3): 206–214.
- Horiguchi M. A comparative anatomical study of the pectoral muscle group in brindled bandicoot (Isoodon macrourus Gould, 1842), an Australian marsupial (author's transl)]. Kaibogaku Zasshi. 1981; 56(5): 375–399.
- Hughes RL, Hall LS. Structural adaptations of the newborn marsupial. In: Tyndale-Biscoe CH, Janssens PA. ed. The developing marsupial. Springer, Berlin 1988.
- Karlen SJ, Krubitzer L. The functional and anatomical organization of marsupial neocortex: evidence for parallel evolution across mammals. Prog Neurobiol. 2007; 82(3): 122–141.
- Kelly E, Sears K. Limb specialization in living marsupial and eutherian mammals: constraints on mammalian limb evolution. J Mammal. 2011; 92(5): 1038–1049.
- Kikuchi Y, Oishi M, Shimizu D. Morphology of brachial plexus and axillary artery in bonobo (Pan paniscus). Anat Histol Embryol. 2011; 40(1): 68–72.
- Klima M. Early development of the shoulder girdle and sternum in marsupials (Mammalia: Metatheria). Adv Anat Embryol Cell Biol. 1987; 109: 1–91.
- Koizumi M. Comparative anatomy of the subscapularis, teres major and latissimus dorsi muscles from salamanders to mammals with special reference to their innervations from the brachial plexus. Anat Sci Int. 2022; 97(1): 124–137.
- Lee AK, Cockburn A. Evolutionary ecology of marsupials. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1985.
- Lillegraven JA. Biological considerations of the marsupial-placental dichotomy. Evolution. 1975; 29(4): 707–722.
- Martín-Serra A, Benson RBJ. Developmental constraints do not influence long-term phenotypic evolution of marsupial forelimbs as revealed by interspecific disparity and integration patterns. Am Nat. 2020; 195(3): 547–560.
- Moeller, H. F. (1990). Grzimek’s Encyclopedia of Mammals. McGraw-Hill, In: Grzimek, B. (ed.) New York, 1990, 212–219.
- Murphy W, Pevzner P, O'Brien S. Mammalian phylogenomics comes of age. Trends Genet. 2004; 20(12): 631–639.
- Nishimura R, Kusakabe A, Ounaka S, et al. Kaibogaku zasshi. J Anat. 1965; 40(5): 235–245.
- Nowak RM. Walker’s marsupials of the world. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2005.
- Regnault S, Fahn-Lai P, Norris R, et al. Shoulder muscle architecture in the echidna (monotremata: tachyglossus aculeatus) indicates conserved functional properties. J Mamm Evol. 2020; 27(4): 591–603.
- Richards H, Adams J, Evans A. Hanging on and digging deep: comparative forelimb myology of the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) and common wombat (Vombatus ursinus). Zool J Linn Soc. 2023; 199(1): 60–82.
- Sears KE. Constraints on the morphological evolution of marsupial shoulder girdles. Evolution. 2004; 58(10): 2353–2370.
- Sears KE. Differences in the timing of prechondrogenic limb development in mammals: the marsupial-placental dichotomy resolved. Evolution. 2009; 63(8): 2193–2200.
- Sharman GB. adaptations of marsupial pouch young for extra-uterine existence. In: Austin CR. ed. The mammalian fetus in vitro. Springer, Boston 1973.
- Shearer, B. M. (2019). The Morphology and Evolution of the Primate Brachial Plexus. CUNY Academic Work. https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3070.
- Szalay FS. A new appraisal of marsupial phylogeny and classification. In: Archer M. ed. Carnivorous marsupials. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Mosman, Australia, Mosman 1982: 621–640.
- Thenius E. Phylogeny. In: Grzimek B. ed. Grzimek’s encyclopedia of mammals. McGraw-Hill, New York 1990: 219–231.
- Wilfred H. The morphology of the brachial plexus with a note on the pectoral muscle and its tendon twist. Indian Med Gaz. 1939; 74(7): 442–443.
- Woinarski J, Burbidge AA. Phascolarctos cinereus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T16892A166496779.
- Woodburne M, Case J. Dispersal, vicariance, and the Late Cretaceous to early tertiary land mammal biogeography from South America to Australia. J Mamm Evol. 1996; 3(2): 121–161.
- Woodburne MO, Rich TH, Springer MS. The evolution of tribospheny and the antiquity of mammalian clades. Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2003; 28(2): 360–385.
- World Association of Veterinary Anatomists. Nomina anatomica veterinaria. 6th ed. International Committee on Veterinary Gross Anatomical Nomenclature, Columbia 2017.
