Vol. 8, Issue 9 (2019)

Author(s):
Abhin Raj KP, Sreeranjini AR, Maya S, Sunil Kumar NS, Lucy KM, Indu VR and Sumena KB

Abstract:
The study was conducted on three femurs of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). The femur was comprised of cylindrical shaft with proximal and distal extremities. The shaft presented cranial and caudal surfaces and medial and lateral borders. The proximal extremity comprised head and greater trochanter. The fovea capitis seen in African elephants and domestic animals was absent in the head. The greater trochanter was placed laterally below the level of head similar to African elephants, cats and man. The greater trochanter continued on the craniolateral aspect of shaft as ridge like trochanter tertius as in African elephants. The distal extremity comprised a trochlea cranially and two condyles caudally. Unlike in ruminants the medial supracondyloid tuberosity, supracondyloid fossa and extensor groove were indistinct. The present study indicated that most of the gross anatomical features of the femur of Asian elephants were similar to that of African elephants but differed in several aspects from that of domestic animals.