Morphological changes associated with Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) phallic glans inflation
| Autor: | Hermanus B. Groenewald, Mark D. Does, Rachel Francis, Diane A. Kelly, Adam Foster, Dong K. Kim, Jan G. Myburgh, Brandon C. Moore |
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| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
0301 basic medicine Male Nile crocodile 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences 03 medical and health sciences Imaging Three-Dimensional biology.animal medicine Animals Glans Alligators and Crocodiles biology Reproduction Anatomy biology.organism_classification Phallic stage Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data availability Crocodylus 030104 developmental biology medicine.anatomical_structure Animal Science and Zoology Female Penis Developmental Biology |
| Zdroj: | Journal of morphologyREFERENCES. 281(6) |
| ISSN: | 1097-4687 |
| Popis: | The crocodylian phallic glans is the distal inflatable structure that makes the most direct contact with the female cloacal and associated reproductive tract openings during copulation. Therefore, its form and function directly impact female tissue sensory interactions and insemination mechanics. Compared to mammals, less is known about glans functional anatomy among other amniotes, including crocodylians. Therefore, we paired an ex vivo inflation technique with magnetic resonance imaging 3D-reconstructions and corresponding histological analyses to better characterize the morphological glans restructuring occurring in the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) at copulation. The expansion of contiguous inflatable spongiform glans tissues is variably constrained by adjacent regions of dense irregular collagen-rich tissues. Therefore, expansion shows regional differences with greater lateral inflation than dorsal and ventral. Furthermore, this enlargement elaborates the cup-like glans lumen, dorsally reorients the glans ridge, stiffens the blunt and bifid glans tip, and putatively works to seal the ventral sulcus spermaticus semen conduit groove. We suggest how these dynamic male structures may interact with structures of the female cloacal urodeum and how these morphological changes, in concert with the varying material properties of the structural tissue compartments visualized in this study, aid copulatory gamete transfer and resulting fecundity. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Nile crocodile glans inflation produces a reproductively relevant copulatory structure directing insemination and female tissue interactions. Pairing magnetic resonance imaging 3D reconstruction with corresponding histology effectively studies functional anatomy. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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