Recently, attention was paid to rabbit as a fur and meat producing animal. Owing to the lack of the literature concerning the morphological structures of the rabbit specially the respiratory system, this work is a trial to throw a light on the anatomical aspects of the laryngeal cartilages of Balady rabbit. The present study was carried out on twenty healthy adult Balady rabbits of different sexes. Fifteen rabbits were used for gross anatomical studies of the laryngeal cartilages and the others were used for the histological study. The cartilaginous framework of the larynx consisted of three single cartilages; the cricoid, thyroid and epiglottic and three paired cartilages; the arytenoid, corniculate and cuneiform cartilages. The thyroid cartilage was U- shaped composed of two laminae united ventrally to form the body of thyroid cartilage. The lateral surface of the thyroid lamina was divided into dorsal and lateral parts by longitudinal ridge. There was no caudal thyroid notch. The cricoid cartilage was signet-ring shaped composed of a dorsal quadrilateral lamina and a ventrolateral arch. Epiglottis had leaf or flap shape with rounded and slightly forked or notched apex. The arytenoid cartilages were small irregular quadrilateral in shape. The corniculate processes were bilateral thin flat elastic nearly quadrilateral cartilaginous pieces. The cuneiform processes were two very small bar like cartilaginous processes. The cricoid, the main part of the arytenoid and thyroid cartilages were hyaline, while the epiglottis with its cuneiform process and the corniculate and vocal processes of the arytenoid cartilages were elastic cartilages. |
