Ball Python Head Perfused with BriteVu

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Nov 9, 2016/ Off Comments / in Reptiles
Ball Python Head Perfused with BriteVu

Ball python (Python regius) head.  The python was perfused with BriteVu plus 2% Dawn Ultra dish soap. A Siemens Inveon micro CT scanner (50 µm ‘slice thickness’) was used to obtain the images.  False color was added to this lateral (side) image of the head.  Note the small vessels exiting the ‘heat pits’ on the side of the upper jaw in front of (rostral to) the eye ring.  These pits are believed to be used for infrared sensing.  The degree of micro vessels suggests that this area is well vascularized and important to the snake.  BriteVu has been similarly used to find new and study previously described structures that are so important to understanding how form and function work together.