Gross Morphological Features of the Bones of the Forearm and Manus in Indian Grey Mongoose (Herpestes edwardsii)

The study on the anatomy of the mongoose to understand the lifestyle and behavior is on the way. Though research are done to address the anatomy of the body systems of the members of this Herpestidae family, studies are not yet available on the bones of the forearm and manus that assist locomotion, predation and are of evolutionary significance. This study was done on the carcass of Indian Grey mongoose that suffered natural death and referred by the Directorate of Forest and Wildlife, Puducherry. The carcasses after their postmortem examination were subjected for cold water maceration and their morphological features were recorded and compared with other carnivores to appreciate their morphological adaptations. We found that the radius was a long bone with a shaft and 2 extremities. It had four surfaces and two borders. The ulna was also long and its shaft presented three surfaces and three borders. These bones were present as two separate bones and were in close contact with each other for the entire length, except for the proximal and distal interosseus spaces. The radio-ulnar groove was wide and deep. The body of the olecranon process of ulna was bent with a remarkable tilt medially. The shafts of both radius and ulna were curved from above downwards and their volar surfaces were concave. The anconeal process was disc shaped and the semilunar notch of ulna was deeply concave. The bones of the manus included seven carpals arranged in two transverse rows, five metacarpals, five digits with three phalanges each expect for the first digit. Proximal sesamoids were two in all the five digits.