LUNG LOBATION AND BRONCHIAL DISTRIBUTION IN THE STRIPED HOG-NOSED SKUNK (Conepatus semistriatus, Boddaert, 1785) – SHORT COMMUNICATION

Abstract

This study aimed to anatomically describe the lung lobation and bronchial distribution in the striped hog-nosed skunk. Lungs of four animals which were run over were used. Animals presented semicone-shaped lungs and the right lung was constituted by cranial, middle, caudal and accessory lobes. The left lung presented cranial and caudal lobes, and no cranial lobe division was noted. The right main bronchus divided into one bronchus to the cranial lobe, one to the middle lobe and one to the caudal and accessory lobes. The right cranial lobar bronchus divided into three segmental bronchi; the accessory lobar bronchus and the right middle lobar bronchus gave origin to two segmental bronchi; the right caudal lobar bronchus originated six segmental bronchi. The left main bronchus bifurcated into a bronchus to the cranial and a bronchus to the left caudal lobes. The left cranial lobar bronchus divided into six segmental bronchus, as well as the left caudal bronchus. The bronchial distribution and the lung lobation in the striped hog-nosed skunk are different from the ones reported in domestic carnivorous and wild rodents.