Animal Molecular Breeding, 2016, Vol.6, No.4, 1-10
1
Research Article Open Access
Histomorphogenesis of The Cerebellum of The Grey Breasted Helmeted Guinea
Fowl (
Numida meleagris galeata
) Pre and Post Hatch I.
Wanmi N.
1
, Onyeanusi B.I.
2
, Nzalak J.O.
2
, Aluwong T.
3
1 Department of Veterinary Anatomy, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria
2 Department of Veterinary Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria
3 Department of Veterinary Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria
Corresponding email,
ail.com
Animal molecular Breeding, 2016, Vol.6, No.4 doi:
.0004
Received: 24 Mar., 2016
Accepted: 29 Apr., 2016
Published: 20 May, 2016
Copyright © 2016
Wanmi et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
Wanmi N., Onyeanusi B.I., Nzalak J.O. and Aluwong T.,
2016, Histomorphogenesis of The Cerebellum of The Grey Breasted Helmeted Guinea Fowl (
Numida
meleagris galeata
) Pre and Post Hatch I, Animal molecular Breeding, 6(4): 1-10 (doi:
.0004
)
Abstract
The cerebellum is a “neuronal machine” that influences primarily motor behaviour, eye movement and conditioning. In
this present study, seventy eggs were used for pre and post hatch experiment. At day 11 of the incubation, the cerebellum was
observed together with the formation of the ventricular neuroepithelium and the external granular layer (EGL). The cerebellar
auricles and vermis appeared by day 18 of incubation and this corresponds to the day the future Purkinje cells was observed. The
single row of the Purkinje cells formed between the granular and molecular layer was established at day 26 pre-hatch. Before the 4th
and 8th weeks post-hatch, nucleoli, dendrites and distinct cellular components were formed with a strip of EGL persisting.
Keywords
Histomorphogenesis; Cerebellum; Helmeted guinea fowl
1 Introduction
The helmeted guinea fowl (
Numida meleagris galeata
) is a native to Africa and belongs to the Phylum,
Chordata
;
Subphylum, Vertebra; Class, Aves; Order, Galliformes; and Family, Numidae. It is widely distributed in the
Guinea Savannah vegetation zone of Nigeria (Ayeni, 1983) and estimated at 44 million in captivity (Ayeni, 1980).
In Nigeria, two types of guinea fowl species are found;
Numida ptilorhycha
that is indigenous to the Southern part
while
Numida meleagris
is domiciled in the Northern part but is spreading to other small-holder farming areas
(Ayorinde, 1987). Some people keep guinea fowl out of curiosity and as “watch animals” around homestead
because they have excellent eye-sight, a harsh cry, and they shriek at the slightest provocation (Smith, 2000). They
are also kept for income generation (Ligomela, 2000), and for the control of snakes, mice and ticks (Cactus, 2001)
thus, encouraging its production. The increase in guinea fowl production has led to the development of informal
traders who buy and sale the birds for breeding and consumption, especially during festive seasons (Fajemilehin,
2010).
Birds are subjected to a constant and potentially overwhelming barrage of information from the environment. The
development of the brain is an important requirement for the survival of all birds because it controls the entire
systems and most importantly in matured birds. It plays a vital function on the skeletal movement properly,
through continuous sensory feedback of information concerning the effect of its action (Snell, 2001).
The cerebellum is concerned with sensori-motor effects on the use of limbs (movement), on the eyes.
(sight) and auditory (ear) in relation to the types and morphology of nuclei found within these regions of the brain
(midbrain and cerebellum) (Sheibel and Tomiyasu, 1980). The survival of birds, depends on their hearing ability,
sight, and precision to correctly identify, process the most important information at every point in time and so as
to engage their muscular activity to escape their predators or search for food (Shreesh and Eric, 2011).
