In recent years, there have been many histological studies on the mandibular condyles of growing rats, but the histological study on the mandibular condyles of the growing suncus has not yet been reported. House musk shrew (Suncus murinus) looks like a rodent animal but is actually a mammalian animal. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to investigate histologically the development of mandibular condyles in growing newborn suncus ranging from 5 to 30 days after birth. Methods: In this study, 6 animal groups, that is, the suncus of 5,10,15,20,25 and 30 days old were used. Each group consisted of 5 animals. The mandibular condyles of 6 groups were removed, fixed in formalin, embedded in paraffin and sectioned at 6µm. The histological sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and examined with a light microscope. Result: At 5 days, the mandibular condyle showed the layers of articular surface, proliferation , differentiation and hypertrophy. At 10,15,20 and 25 days, the layers of articular surface, proliferation, differentiation and hypertrophy decreased gradually in thickness as the days went by while the cancellous bone increased gradually in amount with days. At 30 days, the layers of proliferation and differentiation almost disappeared, and the layers of articular surface and hypertrophy became extremely thin in thickness. Moreover, the amount of cancellous bone increased conspicuously. Conclusion: The result of the present study indicated that the mandibular condyle of the growing suncus showed the rapid structural changes in a short period of time after birth.

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