COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF THE KOMODO DRAGON (Varanus komodoensis) AND THE GREEN IGUANA (Iguana iguana) SKULL BY THREE-DIMENSIONAL COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHIC RECONSTRUCTION

The purpose of this paper was to do a comparative evaluation of the skull of two species of lizards, the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) and the Green Iguana ( Iguana iguana), by three-dimensional computed tomographic reconstruction. Images provided by this method give excellent anatomic detail of the skull. Therefore, essential differences in the configuration of the orbit and the lateral bones of the neurocranium were visualized in lateral and dorsal reconstructed images. The images obtained by tridimensional computed tomographic reconstruction can be a valuable diagnostic aid for the clinical evaluation of several head disturbances in lizards.