Marked Directional Skull Asymmetry in the Araucan Horse

Pere M. Parés-Casanova; René Alejandro Crosby-Granados; Fabián Muñoz; Arcesio Salamanca-Carreño

doi:10.1055/s-0040-1702986

VCOT Open, Table of Contents

CC BY 4.0 · VCOT Open 2020; 03(01): e11-e18
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1702986

Original Article

Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Marked Directional Skull Asymmetry in the Araucan Horse

Authors

Pere M. Parés-Casanova

¹Department of Animal Science, University of Lleida, Lleida, Catalonia, Spain
René Alejandro Crosby-Granados

²Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Grupo de Investigaciones los Araucos, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Arauca, Arauca, Colombia
Fabián Muñoz

²Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Grupo de Investigaciones los Araucos, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Arauca, Arauca, Colombia
Arcesio Salamanca-Carreño

²Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Grupo de Investigaciones los Araucos, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Arauca, Arauca, Colombia

Abstract

Background Deviations from the perfect symmetry of normally bilateral symmetrical characters occur during individual development due to the influence of multiple factors. Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) is the random developmental variation of a trait (or character) that is perfectly symmetrical, on average, across a population. Directional asymmetry (DA) occurs when one side of the pair of body sides is strongly more marked.

Objective We investigated the presence and level of skull FA and DA in the Araucan horse, a breed from East Colombia.

Study Design A sample of 21 skulls belonging to adult animals was studied by means of standard geometric–morphometric methods using 16 landmarks on the dorsal aspect of the crania.

Results Measurements showed a significant DA with a consistent rightward shift of the splanchnocrania.

Conclusions The results of this study raise questions about the influence of masticatory biomechanics on the asymmetric development of the skull, and also about how management and ingesta-specific properties (such as abrasiveness) may influence this asymmetry.

Keywords

Araucan - bilateral asymmetry - directional asymmetry - fluctuating asymmetry

Full Text

References

References
1 Amik T. Of mice, mothers and mirror-images: testing relationships between asymmetry and fecundity. Thesis. University of Guelph; 2001:53
2 Rasskin-Gutman D. Organized mayhem in Bilateria Baupläne: symmetry and animal complexity. Coloquios Paleontol 2003; 1 (01) 559-567
3 Cocilovo JA, Varela HH, Quevedo S. La asimetría bilateral y la inestabilidad del desarrollo. Rev Argent Antropol Biol 2006; 8 (01) 121-144
4 Auffray JC, Debat V, Alibert P. Shape asymmetry and developmental stability. In: Mark A.J. Chaplain, G.D. Singh JCM, eds. On Growth and Form: Spatio-Temporal Pattern Formation in Biology. New York: John Wiley and Sons Ltd; 1999: 309-324
5 Angelopoulou MV, Vlachou V, Halazonetis DJ. Fluctuating molar asymmetry in relation to environmental radioactivity. Arch Oral Biol 2009; 54 (07) 666-670
6 Parés-Casanova PM, Kucherova I. Horn antisymmetry in a local goat population. Int J Res Agric Food Sci 2013; 1 (02) 12-17
7 López-Romero F, Zúñiga G, Martínez-Jerónimo F. Asymmetric patterns in the cranial skeleton of zebrafish (Danio rerio) exposed to sodium pentachlorophenate at different embryonic developmental stages. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 2012; 84: 25-31
8 Leśniak K. Directional asymmetry of facial and limb traits in horses and ponies. Vet J 2013; 198 (01) (Suppl. 01) e46-e51
9 Kharlamova AV, Trut LN, Chase K, Kukekova AV, Lark KG. Directional asymmetry in the limbs, skull and pelvis of the silver fox (V. vulpes). J Morphol 2010; 271 (12) 1501-1508
10 Parés-Casanova PM, Esteve-Puig C. Directional and fluctuating asymmetries in domestic pig skulls. Research 2014; 1 (828) 1-5
11 Parés-Casanova PM. Age-dependent mandibular asymmetries in domestic pigs. Research 2014; 1 (797) 4-7
12 Wilson GH, McDonald K, O'Connell MJ. Skeletal forelimb measurements and hoof spread in relation to asymmetry in the bilateral forelimb of horses. Equine Vet J 2009; 41 (03) 238-241
13 Parés-Casanova PM. Harmonic analysis of equine hoof form and its matched symmetry. Research 2014; 1 (889) 1-4
14 Parés-Casanova PM, Bravi R. Directional and fluctuating asymmetries in domestic sheep skulls. J Zool Biosci Res 2014; 2 (03) 11-17
15 Carter AJR, Osborne E, Houle D. Heritability of directional asymmetry in Drosophila melanogaster. Int J Evol Biol 2009; 2010: 759159 . Doi: 10.4061/2009/759159
16 Bookstein FL. Morphometric Tools for Landmark Data: Geometry and Biology. Cambridge University Press, ed.). Cambridge; 1991. . Doi: 10.1002/sim.4780120711
17 Mardia KV, Bookstein FL, Moreton IJ. Statistical assessment of bilateral symmetry of shapes. Biometrika Trust 2000; 87 (02) 285-300
18 Salamanca-Carreño A, Monroy N, Parés-Casanova PM, Crosby RA. Aporte a la evaluación para la preservación del caballo Criollo Araucano en Colombia. Zootec Trop 2015; 33 (04) 317-325
19 Salamanca-Carreño A, Parés-Casanova PM, Crosby RA, Monroy N. Análisis biométrico del caballo Criollo Araucano. Arch Zootec 2017; 66 (253) 267-278
20 Klingenberg CP. Developmental Constraints, Modules, and Evolvability. In: Variation. Elsevier; 2005: 219-247
21 Hallgrímsson B, Brown JJ, Ford-Hutchinson AF, Sheets HD, Zelditch ML, Jirik FR. The brachymorph mouse and the developmental-genetic basis for canalization and morphological integration. Evol Dev 2006; 8 (01) 61-73
22 Vallejo RM, Guerrero JA, González-Cózatl FX. Patterns of differentiation and disparity in cranial morphology in rodent species of the genus Megadontomys (Rodentia: Cricetidae). Zool Stud 2017; 56: 14 . Doi: 10.6620/ZS.2017.56-14
23 Von den Driesch A. A Guide to the Measurement of Animal Bones from Archaeological Sites. Massachusetts: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Harvard University; 1976
24 Rohlf FJ. The tps series of software. Hystrix 2015; 26 (01) 9-12
25 Klingenberg CP, McIntyre GS, Zaklan SD. Left-right asymmetry of fly wings and the evolution of body axes. Proc Biol Sci 1998; 265 (1402): 1255-1259
26 Webster M, Sheets HD. A practical introduction to landmark-based geometric morphometrics. In: Alroy J, Hunt G. , eds. Quantitative Methods in Paleobiology. The Paleontological Society; 2010: 163-188
27 Klingenberg CP. Morphometric integration and modularity in configurations of landmarks: tools for evaluating a priori hypotheses. Evol Dev 2009; 11 (04) 405-421
28 Klingenberg CP. MorphoJ: an integrated software package for geometric morphometrics. Mol Ecol Resour 2011; 11 (02) 353-357
29 Rowe L, Repasky RR, Palmer AR. Size-dependent asymmetry: fluctuating asymmetry versus antisymmetry and its relevance to condition-dependent signaling. Evolution 1997; 51 (05) 1401-1408
30 Klingenberg CP, McIntyre GS. Geometric morphometrics of developmental instability: analyzing patterns of fluctuating asymmetry with Procrustes methods. Evolution 1998; 52 (05) 1363-1375
31 Bartosiewicz L, Van Neer W, Lentacker A. Metapodial asymmetry in draft cattle. Int J Osteoarchaeol 1993; 3 (02) 69-75
32 Ocal MK, Sevil F, Parin U. A quantitative study on the digital bones of cattle. Ann Anat 2004; 186 (02) 165-168
33 Morgante M, Gianesella M, Versace E. , et al. Preliminary study on metabolic profile of pregnant and non-pregnant ewes with high or low degree of behavioral lateralization. Anim Sci J 2010; 81 (06) 722-730
34 Austin NP, Rogers LJ. Limb preferences and lateralization of aggression, reactivity and vigilance in feral horses, Equus caballus. Anim Behav 2012; 83 (01) 239-247
35 Gourso C, Düpjan S, Tuchscherer B, Lisette MCL. Behavioural lateralization in domestic pigs (Sus scrofa)—variations between motor functions and individuals. Laterality, Asymmetries Brain. Behav Cogn 2018; 23 (05) 576-598
36 Auerbach BM, Ruff CB. Limb bone bilateral asymmetry: variability and commonality among modern humans. J Hum Evol 2006; 50 (02) 203-218
37 Blackburn A. Bilateral asymmetry of the humerus during growth and development. Am J Phys Anthropol 2011; 145 (04) 639-646
38 Dias GJ, Cook RB, Mirhosseini M. Influence of food consistency on growth and morphology of the mandibular condyle. Clin Anat 2011; 24 (05) 590-598
39 Hems T, Tillmann B. Tendon entheses of the human masticatory muscles. Anat Embryol (Berl) 2000; 202 (03) 201-208
40 Parés-Casanova PM. Conservative neural symmetry of the caprine mandible. Korean J Vet Res 2013; 53 (04) 1-4
41 Parés-Casanova PM. Existence of mandibular directional asymmetry in the European wild boar (Sus scrofa Linnaeus, 1758). J Morphol Sci 2014; 31 (04) 1-5
42 Marado LM, Silva AM. Dental and oral nonmetric traits in a Coimbra reference sample: testing intrasample chronological and spatial variation. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2018; 10 (05) 1165-1177
43 Reeves NM, Auerbach BM, Sylvester AD. Fluctuating and directional asymmetry in the long bones of captive cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus). Am J Phys Anthropol 2016; 160 (01) 41-51
44 Brown C, Magat M. Cerebral lateralization determines hand preferences in Australian parrots. Biol Lett 2011; 7 (04) 496-498
45 Hackert R, Maes LD, Herbin M, Libourel PA, Abourachid A. Limb preference in the gallop of dogs and the half-bound of pikas on flat ground. Laterality 2008; 13 (04) 310-319
46 Leśniak K, Whittington L, Mapletoft S. , et al. The influence of body mass and height on equine hoof conformation and symmetry. J Equine Vet Sci 2019; 77: 43-49