Morphological Studies on the Metacarpals of Indian Elephant (Elephas maximus indicus)

Abstract

Background: The fore and hind limbs of the elephant are arranged in an almost vertical position under the body, similar to a pillar or leg of a table rather than being in the angular position seen in many other quadruped mammals to support great weight. The aim of this study was to elucidate the morphological and morphometrical outline on the metacarpals in Elephants, thereby making more contribution in filling the gap of knowledge and skills framework in this field. Methods: For the present study, the material from three Indian elephants were used. Some of the specimens were available at the Department of Veterinary Anatomy, Mhow. Few skeletons were dug out from the ground which were buried from the last 5-10 years in the premises of college. Result: There were five metacarpal bones lying between the carpal bones (above) and the digits (below). Metacarpals were long bones and each metacarpal consisted of a shaft and two extremities i.e., proximal and distal extremely. The 3rd metacarpal bone was the longest and well developed, while the 2nd and 4th metacarpals were almost equal in length and slightly shorter than the 3rd one.