Dear researchers,
Can anyone help me to identify these odd mammary glands in Ornithorynchus anaticus ?
I struggle to understand its mecanism :
The secretion from all these flat lobes have a pore, or is it the central canal that erupt from the the skin ?
Is it compound tubules or acinii in nature ? Or just tubules that radiated around a canal ?
I really want to compare this gland structure to Eutherian mammals.
Thank you very much !
Hi,
Here you have some articles that talk about platypus's mammary glands; may they help you.
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Article Observations of the comparative anatomy and ultrastructure o...
This one has a complete descrption of gland anatomy and histology. - https://www.jstor.org/stable/24989089?seq=1
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Article The Mammary Gland and Its Origin During Synapsid Evolution
- Omithorhynchus anatinus. Maria Pasitschniak-Arts and Lui Marinelli. 1998 https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/doi/10.2307/3504433/2600754
It seems that the mammary gland is composed by many lobules of alveolar glands, and each lobule secretes directly to the surface.
Platypuses are very interesting; they are so different to others mammals'.
Good luck
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