. Productive sheep husbandry . Sheep. 48 STRUCTURE OF THE SHEEP vertebra, but Sissoii recognizes only 4. With the exception of the last vertebra, these are fused into one bone in the adult animal. The number of coccygeal vertebKe present largely determines the length of the sheep's tail, and that this number varies is apparent to any one who has handled a large number of lambs before their tails have been cut ofE. The Ribs.—Ordinarily the sheep has 13 pairs of ribs, 8 pairs being sternal or true ribs, 4 pairs asternal or false ribs, and one pair floating ribs. True ribs are distinguished from
. Productive sheep husbandry . Sheep. 48 STRUCTURE OF THE SHEEP vertebra, but Sissoii recognizes only 4. With the exception of the last vertebra, these are fused into one bone in the adult animal. The number of coccygeal vertebKe present largely determines the length of the sheep's tail, and that this number varies is apparent to any one who has handled a large number of lambs before their tails have been cut ofE. The Ribs.—Ordinarily the sheep has 13 pairs of ribs, 8 pairs being sternal or true ribs, 4 pairs asternal or false ribs, and one pair floating ribs. True ribs are distinguished from false ribs by the fact that the cartilaginous bars extending from them articulate with the sternum or breast-bone, while those of the false ribs over- lap and are attached to each other, forming what is known as the. Fig. 18.—Skeleton of sheep. (Courtesy of Wm. R. Jenkins Co.) costai arch. The cartilages extending from floating ribs are unat- tached. Sometimes there are' 14 pairs of ribs, in which case the fourteenth rib is also floating. The sternum, or breast-bone, is composed of 7 segments (some- times only 6) and there are indentures in the sides for the reception of the cartilages extending from the ribs. Effects of Variations in Skeletal Structure.—No attempt will be made to describe the bones of the skull and of the thoracic and pelvic limbs because the chief object of discussing the skeleton in this connection is to show how the external form may be influenced by differences in those regions of the skeleton subject to variation in number of parts. Undoubtedly many sheep which are relatively longer than others have more than the average number of vertebrae. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Coffey, Walter Castella, 1877-. Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectsheep, bookyear1918
