Aorta Artery and Branches in Tucanuçu (Ramphastostoco – Muller, 1776)

Tucanuçu (Ramphastostoco – Muller, 1776) is the largest Tucano birds and possess remarkable characteristics, such long orange beak and black spot on end, its black plumage, an area of bare orange skin around the eyes and blue eyelids, being a symbol of avian diversity found in South American ecosystems, whose anatomy and systemic description are little studied, fundamental process to understand biological system of this animal. Thus, this work aimed to perform an anatomical description of aorta artery and respective branches in Tucanuçu through a comparative study, using 2 male and 2 female specimens. In this sense, the present work shows unprecedentedly discovered about this animal that vascular pattern shows similarities with other birds and Aorta being the main vessel that emerges from left ventricle base of the heart. The first branches of Aorta are three coronary arteries: Right, Left and Dorsal. Brachiocephalic Aa.andCervicobrachialarises from cranial face of aortic arch and directed: Brachiocephalic a. which is left limbs, to head, neck and left thoracic member and Cervicobrachial to neck and right thoracic limb. Keywords— Circulatory System, Comparative Anatomy, Wild Animals and Birds.

Cerrado avifauna indicate existence of 837 species in this area [17].
The aorta is the main arterial trunk of the body, beginning at the base of left ventricle and divided into Ascending and Descending Part, and presents many ramifications. In domestic birds, the first branches of Ascending Part are Right Coronary and Left CoronaryAa.that born cranially at aortic valve fixation. Each coronary artery branches in Superficial and Deep Branches, unlike mammals. The Deep Branch is larger than Superficial and travels through interventricular septum. The right coronary artery is larger than left. The following branches of Aorta are: Right and Left Brachiocephalic Arteries, very prominent, which originate Right and Left Common Carotid Arteries and Right and Left Subclavian Arteries [18].
Aorta Arch is the transition between Ascending and Descending Parts and extends dorsally and to the right and reaches the apex level of right lung doubles caudomedially continuing then as Descending Part of Aorta or simply Descending Aorta, which extends to tail region, when is called Median Caudal Artery. Each Brachiocephalic Artery is divided into Common Carotid Artery, Axillary Artery and Pectoral Trunk . The Descending Aorta, along its path through thorax and abdomen, emits several pairs of Dorsal Arteries which are named according to the segment of column in Dorsal, Caudal, Sinsacraland Intercostal. At the fifth costal level, descending aorta emits two large branches, Celiac A.and Mesenteric cranial a., the two main abdominal visceral arteries, other visceral branches of descending aorta are Renal Arteries and Mesenteric Caudal. In the pelvic portion of birds, the substantial branches of aorta are External and Sciatic Iliac Arteries as the major branches of this portion of aorta and the main arteries for pelvic limb of birds [18].
Together, anatomical and systemic descriptions of any specie are fundamental for biological system knowledge and the importance in ecosystem. However, anatomy of aorta and its branches in Tucanuçu is little studied. Considering the importance of circulatory system for this animal anatomy, this study aimed investigate and describe the anatomy of Abdominal Aorta and its branches in Tucanuçu as a literary subsidy for different areas of knowledge and preservation programs.

II.
MATERIAL AND METHODS The present paper is a descriptive anatomical study with two male and two female specimens of Tucanuçu (Ramphastos toco), obtained from natural or accidental death on the roadsides of Brazilian Southeast of Goiás, under authorization of SISBIO nº 37072-2. Considering the descriptive approach of this work, statistical analysis is not necessary. All procedures were conducted in accordance with ethical principles and approved by the Institutional Ethics in Research Committee at the Federal University of Uberlândia (CEUA/UFU nº 067/12).
The study was made in the research laboratory of human and comparative anatomy of Federal University of Goiás -RC, as previously described by our group [19], were the arterial system was dissected and inject with Latex Artecola, colored with red pigment Wandalar, through the carotid artery. Subsequently was made a fixation with aqueous 10 % formaldehyde solution to conservation.
The preparation of anatomical pieces was performed under consecrated techniques in Macroscopic Anatomy and abdominal wall was laterally open to visceral exposure, then all abdominal part and digestive system secluded, exposing dorsal wall of abdomen. With an anatomical forceps, adipose tissue and other tissues were removed to expose abdominal aorta artery and its branches. A stereomicroscope MOTIC SMZ-168, with magnification of 10X was used to dissection procedure.
The Nikon® D7000 18-105 digital camera was used to photographical documentation and description nomenclature adopted is the standard of NominaAnatomicaVeterinaria (2012) [20], elaborated by the International Committee on Veterinary Gross Anatomical Nomenclature.

III.
RESULTS Aorta is the main artery that leaves heart of Tucanuçu, it born at base of left ventricle and emits three coronary arteries: Right, Left and Dorsal. The first part of Aorta in Tucanuçu, Ascending Aorta is very short, it follows cranially, slightly inclined to the right and soon curves strongly to the right and dorsally, like Aortic Arch. The Aortic Arch emits Brachiocephalic Aa.to left and Cervicobrachial to the right. A Brachiocephalic a. is a prominent blood vessel that born from cranial faces of aortic arch and then branches into Left Carotid a. and Left Subclavian a.. A Cervicobrachial a. arises from aortic arch and provides branches to neck and right limb and from Aortic Arch in dorsal surface, born an artery for lungs, trachea, and esophagus ( Figure 1).   Then, on each side, a large ExternalIliac A., which dorsally crosses renal lobe in lateral direction, but does not provide any branches before reaching abdominopelvic wall. Thereafter, a large Sciatica A. appears on each side, as penultimate branch of aorta, which is destined for pelvic limb. Both Sciatic Arteries cross laterally caudal lobe of the kidney and path emits a branch for renal lobe, then follows freely until Ileum-Sciatic foramen, where leaves pelvis. Aorta follows caudally, now much smaller in caliber, on ventral surface of synsacrum and divides into Internal Iliacs Aa.and Medial Caudal. Internal Iliac provides branches to intrapelvic structures and medial flow goes to uropygium. A large Caudal Mesenteric Artery arises from Internal Iliac and suppresses intra-pelvic viscera and caudal part of intestine (Figure 3). IV. DISCUSSION Spite the ecological concern situation, Tucanuçu (Ramphastostoco -Muller, 1776) is one of the main birds found in "Centro de Triagem de AnimaisSilvestres -CETAS -Catalão" and other Wildlife Rehabilitation Centers, and a large part of animals destined to these organizations originate in traffic and many of them are dies [21].

International Journal of Environment, Agriculture and Biotechnology (IJEAB)
Considering the results obtained in this work, was observed that Ascending Aorta of Tucanuçu is v ery short and follows cranially, slightly inclined to the right and soon curves strongly to the right and dorsally, constituting Aorta Arch, in agreement with descriptions in domestic birds The Brachiocephalic Aa. and Cervicobrachial are two prominent blood vessels found in Tucanuçu that arise from cranial face of aortic arch and go to head, neck and thoracic limbs, in accordance with descriptions of Getty

V.
CONCLUSION The present study shows unprecedentedly relates about aorta artery and respective branches in Tucanuçu (Ramphastostoco), showing that the first major branch of descending Aorta is an odd visceral artery, Celiac a. and then, on ventral face, Mesenteric Cranial a., the largest visceral branch of descending aorta, which together with Celiac A. supplies almost all of abdominal viscera. In Tucanuçu, Renal Cranial Aa.arises from aorta, but averages and flows are from Ischiatic a.. Also, several small branches are found destined to structures abdominal cavity, such as: gonads, adrenals and other tissues. Thus, this work shows great similarity with others birds and particularities about this specie, contributing to anatomical description and understanding of an important blood vessel in Tucanuçu biological system.