Sanja Horvat i Martina Sakač: Ductus arteriosus and foramen ovale in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). Original scientific student paper. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Zagreb. Zagreb. 2011.

 

Abstract

In this study the closure of ductus arteriosus and foramen ovale in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) was studied. The bottlenose dolphin is the only resident marine mammal of the Adriatic Sea and strictly protected by law. For the purpose of the study 49 bottlenose dolphin hearts were examined. The hearts originated from bottlenose dolphins found dead from October 1990 till April 2011 in the Croatian part f the Adriatic Sea. The heart examination included the inspection of the right atrium and aorta. The status of ductus arteriosus and foramen ovale was noted. Both structures are open at time of birth, but close during the first years of life what is much later then in humans. We presume that the persistence of foetal structure of the heart is the result of a lower evolutionary pressure on marine versus land mammals.