Measurements have been made of the leg muscles of mammals ranging from shrews Sorex to an elephant Loxodonta. Allometric equations based on body mass have been calculated for muscle masses, fibre lengths and moment arms and the thickness of a tendon, in several groups of mammals. Departures from geometric similarity in mammals in general (excluding bipedal hoppers) are noted and discussed. Differences between primates; fissipedes, bovids and bipedal hoppers are also demonstrated.

Measurements have been made of the principal leg bones of 37 species representing almost the full range of sizes of terrestrial mammals. The lengths of corresponding bones tend to be proportional to (body mass)0·35 and the diameters to (body mass)0·36, except in the family Bovidae in which the exponents for length are much nearer the value of 0·25 predicted by McMahon's (1973) theory of elastic similarity. Comparisons are made between mammals of similar size belonging to different orders.

The combined use of morphological and molecular studies allowed for the first time the recognition and description of the adult stage of Clinostomum cutaneum Paperna, 1964 from the grey heron Ardea cinerea L. in Kenya. A redescription of the metacercaria that infect Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus niloticus (L.) from the same aquatic environment is also presented. C. cutaneum differs from all other species of Clinostomum Leidy, 1856 in the shape of its uterus. Sequencing the rRNA confirmed the morphological similarity between adults from the grey heron and the metacercarial stage from tilapia, and a level of genetic similarity with the other previously sequenced Clinostomum spp. was observed. The need for a reorganisation of Clinostomum using both morphological and molecular methods is highlighted.

SUMMARYPeptides which are possibly related to the non-cholinergic, non-adrenergic division of the autonomic nervous system have been identified by immunofluorescence in the digestive system of mature sheep. Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-, substance P-, and bombesin-like immunoreactivity were localized in neural elements throughout the ovine gastrointestinal tract (g.i.t.). Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-like immunoreactivity (VIP-l.i.) was demonstrable in the submaxillary, parotid and the sublingual salivary glands close to small blood vessels and the acini. VIP-li. was also demonstrable in the upper oesophagus in connective tissue near small blood vessels. In the forestomachs, abomasum, and small and large intestines reactive fibres were present in the mucosa, submucosa, smooth muscle layers and the plexuses. The plexuses also contained reactive nerve cell bodies. VIP-reactive fibres were found in the pancreas, the gall bladder and the common bile and pancreatic duct but were not found in the intestinal mesentery, portal vein, and liver tissue. Substance P-like immunoreactivity (SP-l.i.) was demonstrable in nerve fibres in all the layers of the g.i.t. and in nerve cell bodies in the gut plexuses. The pancreas and the gall bladder also contained a few scattered fibres. Additionally, SP-l.i. was present in open-type endocrine cells throughout the mucosa of the small and large intestines but no SP-l.i. was found in the salivary glands or the oesophagus. Bombesin-like immunoreactivity (B-li.) was associated with nerve fibres and was demonstrable in the mucosa and myenteric plexuses throughout the g.i.t. B-l.i. in the smooth muscle appeared to be restricted to nerve fibres in the forestomachs, the abomasum, and the upper small intestine. No B-li. was found in the salivary glands, oesophagus, liver tissue, pancreas, gall bladder or intestinal mesentery.

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