Comparative Anatomy of the Mouse and the Rat

As the title suggests, this is an in-depth anatomy textbook. It is ring bound, so it lies flat and fits nicely on a mayo stand in surgery, or on a counter during a postmortem evalu- ation. This book is visually appealing as it has many detailed, well- done, full color drawings of mouse and rat anatomy throughout. Topics are covered that I didn’t expect, such as the detailed section on Juvenile Features, which includes drawings of mouse and rat pups at < 24 hours, 5 days, 11 days, 21 days, and adult, explaining how you would sex each species at each age. This book is endorsed by the American Association of Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS), and the value of this book for laboratory animal veterinarians is clear. I do, however, feel that this book could also be a valuable resource for clinical practitioners. As an exotic animal veterinarian, for example, I was very interested to see the detailed drawings of the mammary glands. Mammary gland tumors are a common issue in mice and rats, so it is good to be able to appreciate how far that tissue extends from the ventral area and the actual papillae. Many of the other sections would be useful in establishing the locations of structures for radiographs, surgery, sample collection, catheter placement, etc.

Overall, I found this book to be very interesting, visually appealing, and a detailed exploration of the anatomy of the mouse and rat, with the differences between the species clearly highlighted in the text. This textbook would be a useful reference for laboratory animal veterinarians and exotic animal practitioners.

Reviewed by Teresa Bousquet, DVM, Park Veterinary Centre, Alberta for The Canadian Veterinary Journal, March 2019.

Dr. G. M. Constantinescu investigates the gross anatomy of domestic and laboratory animals in general, focusing on the locomotor apparatus, the peripheral and autonomic nervous system, as well as on the anatomical nomenclature. The latter work was used to write and illustrate two sections of the “Illustrated Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria.” He is one of the five members of the Editorial Committee for the 5th edition of the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria, and the only one representing the two Americas. In addition, he maintained his interest in the areas of congenital malformations in mammals and animation in cardiology. Dr. G. Constantinescu is also a medical illustrator; he wrote and illustrated his own books “Clinical Dissection Guide for Large Animals” and “Guide to Regional Ruminant Anatomy Based on the Dissection of the Goat” and “Clinical Anatomy for Small Animal Practitioners”, the last one translated into Portuguese, Japanese and French. As co-author he contributed with text, and illustrated several other books in English and in Romanian, some published, others in press.

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