The Anatomical Differences between the Donkey and the Horse by C. L. Herman; A2906.1109

Introduction The anatomy of the donkey and how it differs from that of the horse rarely receives mention in standard veterinary anatomy textbooks used in the western world. There is also limited material on this subject readily accessible in the current literature. As a result, the donkey is often presumed to be morphologically the same as the horse, and there are far more similarities between the two species than there are differences. However, some clinically relevant anatomical differences exist that one should be aware of when dealing with donkey patients. This chapter will attempt to address some of the clinically significant, gross anatomical differences between the donkey and the horse. Much of the information has been gained in the gross anatomy laboratory from the author’s observations and dissection of donkeys used for instruction of veterinary students; while some of the information is the result of a literature review using CAB abstracts. This search revealed several references on anatomical studies in the donkey from a variety of journals but most of these journals are very difficult to access. The only anatomical structures that are discussed are those the author found to vary between the two species. There may be anatomical differences that have been overlooked because the author did not observe them on dissection or they were not reported in the author’s literature search.