Alligator bite

The mode of development and structure of crocodilian teeth and periodontium parallels that of mammals, but the teeth are continuously replaced throughout the lifetime of those animals. In this report, the innervation and fibres of the crocodilian periodontal ligament were examined using histology, immunohistochemistry for S-100 protein and transmission electron microscopy. Crocodilian periodontal ligaments had the following characteristics: (1) horizontal fibres, which connect the alveolar bone to the root cementum and (2) longitudinal fibres, which ran parallel to the tooth axis, with nerves and blood vessels in the middle layer of the ligament...

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Marine and freshwater animals can cause injury to humans by biting, stinging, being poisonous to eat, and causing infections. Biting aquatic animals in Florida include sharks, barracudas, alligators, and moray eels. Devitalized tissue should be débrided, and vascular, neurologic, and tendinous injuries should be repaired. Radiographs should be obtained to examine the injury sit for fractures and retained foreign bodies (teeth). The spines of stingrays and marine catfish can cause soft tissue injury and infection...

Microscopic tooth-wear (microwear) patterns can be an important tool for assessing modes and rates of abrasive tooth wear, but their analysis and interpretation is complicated by the fact that microwear is influenced by many factors. Three of these factors were here tested under conditions of compressive loading: (1) species differences in enamel structure, (2) abrasive particle size and (3) magnitude of force. Teeth of four species (Homo sapiens, Lemur fulvus, Ovis aries and Crocodylus rhombifer) were abraded in vitro using three sizes of abrasive silicon-carbide grit (average diameters 73, 23 and 14 microns), at two loads (50 and 100 kg)...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate why fatal crocodile bites are increasing in a Tanzanian district and the importance of traditional beliefs and superstitions in determining the residents' response to the crocodiles. DESIGN: Information about beliefs was obtained by interview of Korogwe residents. Human and crocodile fatality statistics were obtained from the Korogwe Department of Natural Resources. SETTING: Villages within Korogwe District. SUBJECTS: Population of Korogwe District...

We report a case of traumatic sexual dysfunction and genitalia deformity successfully treated with dorsal vein excision, spongiolysis, rotational flaps, split thickness skin grafts, testicular prosthesis implantation and penile autologous fat augmentation 23 years after an alligator attack resulted in amputation of the testes and half of the scrotum, and denudation of the penis with corpus cavernosum to spongiosum fistula formations.

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Field studies of living primates have shown that primate predation is a rare event. This must also have been true for past primate communities. In the Fayum Oligocene of Egypt, specimens of all four species of Upper Fossil Wood Zone primates show evidence of tooth puncture marks. Of the four potential groups of primate predators--the snakes, the raptors, the crocodiles, and the primitive carnivores or creodonts--only the crocodiles and the creodonts could have made these puncture marks. When one compares the feeding habits of living crocodiles and mammalian carnivores with the evidence from the Fayum, it appears that the Fayum primates were preyed upon and/or scavenged by mammalian carnivore-like animals...

Reported causes of death (1899-1911) and of admission to hospital (1884-1910) of Indian migrants to Natal are analysed, and an attempt is made to relate them to the circumstances and way of life of the community. The most frequently reported causes of death were pneumonia, enteritis and pulmonary tuberculosis; the commonest reason for admission was venereal disease. Fluctuations in reported mortality and morbidity from year to year were most marked for malaria, with a formidable epidemic in 1905-1906. Typhoid fever and diphtheria were uncommon, as were diabetes and the sequelae of arteriosclerosis...

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An open thumb fracture resulting from an alligator bite became infected with Aeromonas hydrophila, Enterobacter agglomerans, and Citrobacter diversus. The patient was treated by surgical debridement and antibiotic therapy. We obtained cultures from the mouth of ten alligators to characterize their oral flora. Initial empiric therapy after alligator bites should be directed at gram-negative species, in particular, Aeromonas hydrophila and anaerobic species including Clostridium. Of the numerous fungi that were isolated, none has been reported to result in wound infection after alligator bites...

OBJECTIVE: To examine crocodile attacks in the Northern Territory with particular reference to risk factors, range of injuries, microorganisms isolated from wounds, and surgical management; and to make recommendations for optimal treatment. DESIGN AND SETTING: The case notes of patients treated at the Royal Darwin Hospital within the last decade were reviewed retrospectively. Autopsy and newspaper reports for the same period were also reviewed. RESULTS: There were 16 reported crocodile attacks in Northern Territory waters from June 1981 to June 1991...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.