Search

The variation in four characters (three craniometrical and one nonmetric with supplemental bones) was investigated in 105 craniums of musk deer in different phases (depression and growth) of the population cycle from the East Sayan mountains. The duration of the cycle was 50 years, which corresponds to ten generations of animals. The results obtained show the multidirectional relation of skull sizes (craniometric variation) with phases in the population number in animals of different sexes. The variability of nonmetric characteristics of the skull is characterized by the greatest frequency of manifestation and the maximum quantity of additional bones during the phase of population depression in animals of both sexes, a gradual decrease in their quantity during the growth phase, and then complete loss of supplemental bones when there is an increase in population numbers. The revealed phene of the skull is a key cranial variation and may be used as a way for monitoring natural populations of rare and disappearing subspecies of musk deer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between the cranial features and feeding types in the musk deer has been studied. According to the results of dispersion and cluster analyses, the six modern subspecies were divided into four trophic (mixed-feeders) subcategories--by the ratio of grass and leaves with a significant fraction of lichens (from 25 to 75%) in their diet. It was established that some morphological features of the skulls of subspecies forms correlate with their feeding specialization and habitat and can thus be useful in the reconstruction of adaptations of extinct Moschidae taxa.

Genetic diversity within the northern subspecies group of musk deer Moschus moschiferus L, 1758 was examined based on the mtDNA control region hypervariable fragment (300-bp) sequence polymorphism. Nucleotide diversity, constituting 2.6% for the whole sample (n = 34), varied in the range from 0.6 to 1.9% for individual subspecies. Maximum values of this index were observed for Siberian subspecies (M. m. moschiferus), which had the widest range. Genetic similarity between the haplotypes of the musk deer from the Far East (Russia) and Sakhalin Island, which grouped in one cluster in a phylogenetic tree, was demonstrated. The data obtained indicate that the distribution of musk deer along the territory of Russia occurred from Eastern Siberia to the Far East, and from there to the Sakhalin Island. A currently observed decrease of the musk deer population number along with the increased habitat fragmentation can result in a decrease of the total genetic diversity and in inbreeding depression in the local isolated groups.

A total of 96 vascularized flaps used in the reconstruction of the mandible in 91 patients are analyzed. In 82 cases the defects appeared after treatment of malignant and benign lesions of the mandible. In 18 patients the mandible was reconstructed using rib grafts. The lateral border of the scapula was used in 30 patients and fibular grafts in 12 patients. In 36 cases mandibular and soft tissue defects were corrected using vascularized latissmus dorsi flaps combined with the tenth or eleventh rib. The results were positive in 86-92% of the cases. The postoperative analysis shows excellent esthetic and functional results in all the patients who had primary plastic reconstruction of the mandible and the results were good in 36% of cases of secondary plastic reconstruction of the mandible. The donor sites in all cases showed no functional disturbances.

We studied the chromosome sets and specific morphological features and phenetic traits of hair cover coloration, as well the pattern of its inheritance upon experimental hybridization. The diploid set of chromosomes in the animals from the northern part of the range contains 2n = 58 (there are two additional B-chromosomes in the Far Eastern musk deer) and is identical to that from the southern musk deer forms. Discrete polymorphic features of neck and hair cover coloration have been identified in the northern and southern musk deer, and these are used as taxonomic features. A map illustrates distribution of the established subspecies.

The results of multiyear studies (1976-1996) of musk deer taxonomy and the published data were generalized. Two groups of subspecies were isolated on the basis of statistical analysis of 13 linear measurements and six indices in 388 skulls from different parts of the range. Group "sibirica" includes four subspecies: Siberian Moschus moschiferus moschiferus F., Verkhoyansk M. moschiferus articticus F., Far-Eastern M. moschiferus turowi Zal., and Sakhalin M. moschiferus sachalinensis F. Group "himalaica" contains three subspecies: Korean M. moschiferus parvipes Hol., Chinese M. moschiferus chrysogaster H., and Himalayan Moschus moschiferus leucogaster H.

The following secretions of mammalian skin glands were subjected to a microbiological survey: the middle-abdominal glands of great and Mongolian gerbils, the preputial gland of musk deer, the perineal organ of African civet cat, the interdigital skin regions and interdigital glands of bison, European bison, European roe deer, and musk deer. All the secretions were found to contain microbial associations. The composition of bacterial species in the secretions and the quantity of microorganisms varied among different animal species, during the ontogenesis of an animal, and depended on the topography of a gland on an animal body as well as on its functional state in different seasons or upon hormonal changes. The secretions of certain glands contain factors which determine the composition of microbial species in a particular ecological niche and the stability of such a cenosis.