Anatomicohistological Characteristics of the Female Genital Organs of the White‐lipped Peccary (Tayassu pecari) in the Peruvian Amazon |
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| Authors: | P Mayor R E Bodmer L Schettini G O Mariño M López‐Béjar |
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| Institution: | 1. Addresses of authors: Department of Animal Health and Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Bellaterra, E‐08193 Barcelona, Spain;2. Corresponding author: Tel.: +34 3 581 2482;3. fax: +34 3 581 2006;4. e‐mail: pedrogines.mayor@uab.es;5. Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NS, UK;6. Instituto Veterinario de Investigaciones Tropicales y de Altura, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Perú;7. Dirección General de Promoción Agraria, Ministerio de Agricultura, Lima, Perú |
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| Abstract: | This study examined the anatomical and histological characteristics of the genital organs of the female white‐lipped peccary in the wild in different reproductive stages, collected by rural hunters in the North‐eastern Peruvian Amazon. Mean ovulation rate was 2.12 ± 0.83 follicles and litter size was 1.78 ± 0.41 embryos or fetuses per pregnant female, resulting in a low rate of reproductive wastage, averaging 0.33 ± 0.66 (16.04%) oocytes or embryos per pregnancy. The ovulation rate and the anatomical performance of the uterus could limit the prolificacy of this species. Females in follicular phase showed follicular waves suggesting the synchronous growth of a cohort of follicles. Different uterine and vaginal epithelium features changed in accordance with the reproductive state of the female. Pregnant females and females in the luteal phase presented a significant proliferation of endometrial uterine glands, characterized by hyperplasia and branching of endometrial glands, and increase in the proportion of cervical epithelial cells with periodic acid‐schiff (PAS)‐positive granules compared with that in females in the follicular phase. Females in the follicular phase showed a more developed vaginal epithelium (in thickness and in layer composition) than females in the luteal phase and pregnant females. |
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