Osteometric study of the skull of the species Pudu (Pudu puda)

The following study focused on the osteometric measurements of the skull of nine adult specimens of the species Pudu puda, six males and three females, processed using the technique of osteotechnics and subsequently preserved in the anatomy laboratory of the San Sebastián University in the Patagonia campus and Santo Tomás in Puerto Montt. The objective was to determine a more detailed classification of the skull type of this species; for the anatomical description, the terminology recommended by the Veterinary Anatomical Nomenclature 2017 and various studies focused on anatomical descriptions of the species and domestic animals was used. For osteometric measurement and cranial calculations, bibliographic support and research on the subject were utilized, focusing on domestic animals. The statistical analysis was conducted using the "t test" through the statistical program MINITAB (p<0.05). For the analysis, total average values, minimum values, maximum values, standard deviation, and error were considered. The results obtained provided relevant information regarding the metric characteristics of the skull of the species under study, allowing us to conclude that according to its total cephalic index (TCI), it is categorized as mesocephalic with a total of 51.6%, its facial index as hyperlepten with a total of 103.3%, and its cranial index as dolichocranial at 70.8%, mandibular index (MI) at 55.7%, and area of a facial triangle (AFT) at 7.7%, with no significant differences between male and female specimens.