JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCIENCE AND VETERINARY MEDICINE
Integrity Research Journals
ISSN: 2536-7099
Model: Open Access/Peer Reviewed
DOI: 10.31248/JASVM
Start Year: 2016
Email: jasvm@integrityresjournals.org
Peripheral nerves of the brachial plexus with their distribution to the muscles of the pectoral limb in the captive African Striped Ground Squirrel (Xerus erythropus)
https://doi.org/10.31248/JASVM2025.571 | Article Number: 89A1AD644 | Vol.10 (4) - August 2025
Received Date: 08 May 2025 | Accepted Date: 02 July 2025 | Published Date: 30 August 2025
Authors: Omar Hosea Aske1,2* , Maidawa Sunday Men2 , Ali Nkweshi Magdalene2 , Nzalak James Oliver2 , Wanmi Nathaniel1, , Korzerzer Rachel Mngu-suur1 , Abiyere Ese Oristejafore2 , Ajeigbe Olawale Sherif3 , Kachamai Waziri Alhaji4 , Yakubu Comfort4 , Zubairu Mansur2,5 , Muazu Tauheed Abubakar5 , Baso Abdullahi5 , Ude Lawrence Terlumun6 , Denthe Haruna Danladi7 , Bello Faisal8 and Garleya Bilbonga9
Keywords: Cervical, plexus, spinal, thoracic.
This research provides a detailed description of the gross morphology of the brachial plexus with its peripheral nerve distribution to the muscles of the pectoral limb in the African Striped Ground Squirrel (ASGS). Six (6) adult ASGSs of both sexes were used for this study. The squirrels were euthanised using ketamine hydrochloride at a dose of 60 - 80 mg/kg intramuscularly. They were perfused intracardially with 10 % formalin and fixed in the same solution for three days. The muscles were dissected along the intermuscular septae, and the nerves supplying them were identified and photographed. The vertebral column was opened by laminectomy to expose the cervical and thoracic nerve roots. The last four cervical nerves and the first two thoracic nerves arose from the cervical and thoracic segments, respectively, of the spinal cord of the ASGS by means of dorsal and ventral roots. The cervical and thoracic nerves are divided into dorsal and ventral rami just after exiting the intervertebral foramen. The ventral rami of the last four cervical nerves (C5, C6, C7, and C8) and the first two thoracic nerves (T1 and T2) are interconnected to form the brachial plexus. The peripheral nerves of the brachial plexus, including the subscapular nerve, suprascapular nerve, pectoral nerve, axillary nerve, radial nerve, musculocutaneous nerve, ulnar nerve, median nerve and thoracodorsal nerve, supplied the subscapularis, supraspinatus, pectoralis, teres major, triceps brachii, coracobrachialis, flexor carpi ulnaris, flexor carpi radialis and latissimus dorsi, respectively. The peripheral branches of the brachial plexus supply innervation to the muscles of the pectoral limb. The increased number of spinal nerves that constituted the brachial plexus of the ASGS from this study points to increased versatility of actions of the pectoral limb of the ASGS in climbing, wide jump between tree branches and digging.
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