Abstract:

The Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis), one of the world’s most endangered cat subspecies, is mainly distributed in the Northeastern Tiger and Leopard National Park and its surrounding areas in China. No skull measurements have been reported due to its rarity. In this study, the head specimen of a female Amur leopard who died of severe illness was used as the research object. The image data was acquired by scanning with the Dachang Sunshine32 X-ray computed tomography device and the 3D skull reconstruction was performed with the 3D Slicer software to establish the‘digital specimen’of the Amur leopards and measure 26 cranial parameters. This study filled the gap in the digital morphology model of the northeast leopard’s skull among the big cats in China, and provided a basis for the future conservation work of large endangered cats, such as research, conservation, medical treatment, data preservation and feline population differentiation. Morphological information from the skull laid the foundation for taxonomic studies of the Amur leopard. For taxonomic studies of mammals, cranial features have been, and continue to be, important evidence for understanding both interspecific and intraspecific taxonomy.

Key words: Amur leopard, Skull, Morphology, CT, Three-dimensional reconstruction

摘要：

世界上8个金钱豹亚种中，东北豹 (Panthera pardus orientalis) 最濒危，在我国主要分布在东北虎豹国家公园及其周边区域。兽类分类研究中，颅骨特征曾经是，并将继续是理解种间和种内分类的重要证据。因东北豹数量稀少，还未有其头骨测量数据的报道。本研究以1只病重死亡的雌性东北豹头颅标本为研究对象，经大昌Sunshine32 X射线计算机体层摄影设备扫描获得影像数据，运用3D Slicer软件对东北豹头颅扫描数据进行头骨三维重建，建立东北豹头骨的“数字化头骨”并测得东北豹头骨的26项参数指标。该结果填补了我国大型猫科动物中东北豹头骨形态的数字化模型空白，为将来大型濒危猫科动物研究、保护、医疗、数据保存及猫科动物种群分化等保护工作提供基础依据。头骨的形态学信息，为东北豹的分类研究打下基础。

关键词: 东北豹, 头骨, 形态学, CT, 三维重建