Vol. 9, Issue 1, Part T (2024)

Author(s): VK Parmar, Maitri J Patel, Hardi N Patel, MM Chudasma, NH Joshi and KB Patel

Abstract: The present work was carried out on radiographs of previous study on non-descript goat fetuses, irrespective of sex and multiples. The osteometric parameters viz. length and width of primary ossification centers of ilium, ischium, femur, tibia and large metatarsus were recorded from radiographs and statistically analyzed to assess age associated growth and to evolve age prediction formulae in the goat fetuses. The tibia maintained its position as the longest bone of pelvic limb in all the age groups of prenatal life. The diaphyseal length of tibia showed the highest growth rate (0.89 mm/day), followed by femur (0.76 mm/day) and large metatarsus (0.62 mm/day). About 50-60% growth of full-term length and width of different bones of pelvic limb were completed in group-V (91 to 105 days). The correlation coefficients between various bone measurements and fetal age were found very high (r > 0.9). Among the simple linear regression equations formulated for prediction of fetal age; the length of femur and tibia gave 98 per cent predictability (R2) indicating them as reliable bone measurements for estimation of age in goat fetuses.