부산대학교 도서관

Simple Summary: There are few descriptions of bat skulls, and most are incomplete. In the representatives of the order Chiroptera, interosseous sutures disappear over a few months after birth. Conversely, the skull forms a nearly continuous structure in adult specimens, which makes analyzing it difficult. The work describes 28 bones, 30 bone sutures, 13 bone processes and 5 holes in the skull. The presence of the lacrimal bone, os lacrimale, was confirmed. The study concerned the structural elements of the skull and their sutures. The aim of this study was to produce a detailed description of the bat skull in order to fill in the gaps in knowledge on skeletal structures and provide descriptive material for use in anatomical research. Few studies analyze the morphology and anatomy of the bat skull, and most of them are incomplete. Some of the difficulties stem from the fact that, in the representatives of the order Chiroptera, the interosseous sutures disappear by fusing together before active flight begins, which takes place over only a few months. This study presents a detailed morphological and anatomical description of the skull of a juvenile specimen of Myotis myotis (Borkhausen, 1797). Juvenile skulls are difficult to preserve and often incomplete. Previously inconsistent terminology related to bones, sutures, and other cranial structures was unified, which will provide insight on the distribution of each structure in both juvenile and adult specimens to be investigated. The description fill in the gaps in knowledge about the cranial structures of Myotis myotis and the representatives of the family Vespertilionidae. This will allow for precise descriptions of the skulls of bats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]