Innervation of the shoulder joints in Turkish shepherd dogs (Karabash-Kangal), curly sheep and native hair goats: An anatomic study

Abstract

This study is carried out with five Turkish shepherd dog (Canis familiaris), five curly sheep (Ovis aries) and five native hair goats (Capra hircus) which were adult and in different gender, macroanatomical, subgross and comprehensive research of sensible nerves (n) innervating shoulder joint capsule was aimed. The shoulder joint capsule was found to be innervated by axillary and suprascapular nerves in Turkish shepherd dog, curly sheep and native hair goats in macroscopic and subgross analysis. The articular branch of axillary nerve was detected to generally terminate in joint capsule with 3 branches from caudolateral and suprascapular nerve was detected to terminate in joint capsule with 1 branch from lateral. In conclusion, number of the articular branches was found to be more in Turkish shepherd dogs and native hair goats compared to curly sheep. These differences were considered to be related to stated two species being more athletic and faster than curly sheep.