Morphological and Morphometrical Studies on the femur of Himalayan Mongoose

Abstract

The Himalayan mongoose is a brown mongoose species native to the Himalayan region of Indian subcontinent. The specimen under study was collected from Palampur(H.P.),as it was hit by moving car causing instant death of animal. The specimen was preserved and the dissection was done to record the anatomical observation on the femur of Himalayan mongoose. The femur was a long bone that presented 2 surfaces, 2 borders and 2 extremities. The maximum length of femur was 61.81mm. The maximum width of femur at proximal and distal ends was 14.5mm and 12.08mm respectively. The diameter of the femur head was 7.28mm and the angle of the head of femur with its shaft was 31.42º.The head was rounded, smooth and directed medially. The fovea capitis femoris was in the form of small depression at middle of head. The trochanter major was placed at lower level to that of head. On the distal extremity trochlea and condyles were present for articulation. Trochlea had two smooth ridges for the articulation of patella separated by groove . The two ridges were almost symmetrical in shape, the medial one was larger. The condyles, medial and lateral were separated by the deep intercondylar fossa.