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This study aimed to determine the development time of the sutures and foramina of the skull in fetuses of 350 sheep obtained from Northern Nigerian abattoirs. They were separated into 7 age groups and their heads collected and processed using the Alizarin technique. A total of 12 neurocranial sutures were observed in the first and second trimesters; 5 and 7 neurocranial and viscerocranial sutures respectively. In the neurocranium, the cornual and interfrontal sutures were established at 48th–50th day and 51st–53rd days of gestation respectively, whereas the occipital sutures were both identified at 61st–67th days of gestation. The anterior fontanelle appeared in the second trimester, although earlier in Yankasa than in Balami and Uda breeds. However, the posterior fontanelle, interparieto-parietal sutures, and lambdoid sutures were absent. In the viscerocranium, the zygomaticomaxillary and maxilloincisive sutures appeared on the 45th–47th days. The frontonasal sutures were seen on the 54th–56th days; the lacrimomaxillary sutures, lacrimozygomatic sutures, and frontolacrimal sutures appeared on the 61st–67th days. In the 3 breeds, the suture formation occurs at a similar time interval; sutural development is slower in the neurocranium than the viscerocranium; and intrasutural closure of the cornual, interfrontal, frontonasal, zygomaticomaxillary, and maxilloincisive sutures occur as early as the second trimester.
Cite this article as: Atabo, S. M., Umar, A. A., Shehu, S. A., & Abubakar, A. A. (2021). Development of the Sutures, Infraorbital, and Supraorbital Foramina of the Skull in Nigerian Balami, Uda, and Yankasa Breeds of Sheep. Acta Veterinaria Eurasia, 47(2): 98-107.