Skull shape question- Langiera Vs Brevicaudata?

[Brittany_Lynn]

I have noticed something strange in Pico's skull. If run my finger from his nose backwards, to the space between his ears, it feels as though there are two large, spherical masses on either side of a sharp recess in the middle of that area. Rodya, Sonya, and Mork do NOT have this--the space between their ears is relatively 'flat', uniform, no strange lumps. I was wondering about this off and on, and stumbled across this picture--

--and I know it is a poorly drawn illustration, but to be quite honest, it could be a simplified picture of the differences between Mork and Pico in their body types. And if you look closer, the skull of the Brevicaudata has a line between the ears which illustrates what I think I feel underneath Pico's scalp in that area. I *think* that's the reason Pico's skull seems "misshapen" to me, when compared to Rodya, Sonya, Mork, etc.
Have any of you noticed this with your chinchillas, or can anyone tell me if I am sort of on the right track, or am I way off on this one? Is Pico just a freak? Or is Pico of a different sub-species (if I have that right-excuse me if I'm wrong, I am no good with science) than my other three?

A picture of my handsome boy to share as well :*

 

[Lynn & The Chins]

Nice whiskers shot!!! :thumbsup:

 

[Ronda]

Very good drawings and a very good question. Now I'm going to have to go out and check my chins! I have noticed a separation in some of them but never really paid too much attention - just scritching under their chin and around ears.

Ronda

 

[caiti]

Chloe has that space right on her forehead and top of her skull. Since I only have her, I just figured all chins had it. Chloe looks more like the lanigera body type, though.

 

[Brittany_Lynn]

Nice whiskers shot!!! :thumbsup:

Thought of you when I took it

 

[Lynn & The Chins]

^^^

 

[Luci]

i scritched gizmo earlier today after reading this thread and he seems to have a similar head shape that you describe.

regardless, i was always under the impression that most (if not all) pet chins are langiera.

 

[Spoof]

regardless, i was always under the impression that most (if not all) pet chins are langiera.

Actually, most, if not all pet chins are a mix of all three subspecies.

The only thing brevi and langiera does is differentate between a thick bodied, round headed, short tailed chin and a narrow long bodied one.

Because they've been mixed you can actually pull either trait out of lines - breed only the blockiest babies and they move towards brevi. Breed the longer bodies/higher kit averages and they move towards langiera. )

I have noticed a skull shape difference, especially on big blocky velvets with a wide ear set.

 

[Chub_Chub]

Like others have said, I assumed all chins have this to some degree. Ziggy is the most lumpy-headed :laughitup: of our bunch here. Bowie has it to a lesser degree. I have never noticed Sam, Dex or Pirate having the bumps, mainly due to the fact those guys never really sit still long enough for me to get a good feel of the noggin. Kinda reminds me of when certain breeds of dogs start to get sorta egg-headed after a while. I was told once that those formed from chewing on hard toys and such. I wish I could remember the breed..

Good question!

 

[ChinnyMom]

after reading this thread i felt Rhino's head (which he didn't much appreciate, lol), and he is definitely more langiera than the other two types. his body shape and long tail also lean more to langiera.

when i was babysitting Gery, i never did feel her noggin, but her body type was quite a bit more brevi, blocky and 'chunky', although she had a fairly long tail too.