BackgroundPlacental characters vary among Xenarthra, one of four supraordinal clades of Eutheria. Armadillos are known for villous, haemochorial placentas similar to humans. Only the nine-banded armadillo has been well studied so far.MethodsPlacentas of three species of armadillos were investigated by means of histology, immunohistochemistry including proliferation marker, and transmission and scanning electron microscopy.ResultsThe gross anatomy differed: Euphractus sexcinctus and Chaetophractus villosus had extended, zonary placentas, whereas Chaetophractus vellerosus had a disk. All taxa had complex villous areas within the maternal blood sinuses of the endometrium. Immunohistochemistry indicated the validity of former interpretations that the endothelium of the sinuses was largely intact. Tips of the villi and the columns entering the maternal tissue possessed trophoblast cell clusters with proliferation activity. Elsewhere, the feto-maternal barrier was syncytial haemochorial with fetal vessels near the surface.ConclusionsDifferences among armadillos occurred in regard to the extension of the placenta, whereas the fine structure was similar. Parallels to the human suggest that armadillos are likely to be useful animal models for human placentation.

541Modelo de suprimento sanguíneo do intestino grosso do tamanduá bandeira (Myrmecophaga tridactyla).Ciência Rural, v.40, n.3, mar, 2010. Ciência Rural, Santa Maria, v.40, n.3, p.541-547, mar, 2010

SUMMARY:The macroscopic anatomy and vascularization of the stomach compartments of Bradypus torquatus were examined in five animals from the University of São Paulo College of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechny collection. The method included aqueous perfusion of the arterial network, colored latex injection, fixation in formaldehyde (10%) and preservation in Laskovisk solution. Dissections were performed under mesoscopic light and photo documentations were performed for description and data analysis. In these animals, the largest abdominal organ was the stomach, which internally presented the cardiac, fundic and prepyloric regions, subdivided in six compartments (cardiac right, middle and left; fundic; pre-pyloric I and II). The stomach was irrigated by the left gastric and celiac arteries, which are ventral visceral branches of the abdominal aorta. These arteries emerged in the retroperitoneal region and reached the viscera through the mesogastric region, distributed in the large and small stomach curvatures, in the spleen and the pancreas. The primary collateral branches of the left gastric artery are directed to the large stomach curvature, and the celiac artery irrigated the spleen, the pancreas and the small stomach curvature. The vascular pattern differed in some aspects from that observed in the other multicavity stomachs of recent vertebrates.

Modelo de suprimento sanguíneo do intestino delgado e grosso da preguiça de coleira (Bradypus torquatus)Blood supply model of the small and large intestine of the maned three-toed sloth (Bradypus torquatus)

4.1.1 Análise morfológica da osteologia da pelve no Euphractus sexcinctus 4.1.2 Análise morfológica da cavidade pélvica no Euphractus sexcinctus.....

No abstract

The species studied in this research is known as gray brocketdeer. Two Mazama gouazoubira (Fischer, 1814) adult exemplars, donated to the Laboratory of Anatomy of Domestic and Wild Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, São Paulo University, were preserved in formaldehyde (10%). There are four ungulas or hulls on each member and they protect the distal end of the limb, covering the distal phalanx. The angle of the hoof was measured and samples of the digits were processed for light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. In macroscopy, the length of the dorsal wall of the hoof measured approximately 2.5 cm, the angle formed at the step was 35° for the forelimb and 33° for the hindlimb. In microscopy, we could visualize the outer stratum as a very thin layer (141.5 μm), the middle stratum, composed of keratin tubular pigment, which is the main support structure of the wall of the hull, and the inner layer containing parallel slides in a longitudinal distribution, which is important to connect the hoof wall to the dorsal and lateral surface of the distal phalanx. The data from the ungular apparatus of the deers studied may help to elucidate the growth and identification of the footprints of these animals

ABSTRACT. The blood supply in the small intestine of seven Tamandua tetradactyla (Linnaeus, 1758), was studied. The method included preparation of the macroscopic collection report, perfusion of the arterial network with water (40°C),