Structural Features of the Skin, Hair, and Specific Skin Glands of the Common Hamster (Cricetus cricetus, Cricetidae, Rodentia)

• Published in: Biology bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vol. 49; no. 9; pp. 1352 - 1365
• Main Authors: Chernova, O. F., Khatsaeva, R. M., Kupriyanov, V. P., Feoktistova, N. Yu, Surov, A. V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01-12-2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cell Biology; Chemical communication; Coloration; Cricetus cricetus; Ecology; Endangered species; Follicles; Glands; Hair; Life Sciences; Lysis; Marking behavior; Morphometry; Parenchyma; Scanning electron microscopy; Secretions; Skin; Stroma; Zoology; skin and hair; scent glands; morphology; histology; chemical communication; SEM; common hamster; light microscopy
• ISSN: 1062-3590; 1608-3059
• DOI: 10.1134/S1062359022090096

The structure of the skin and hair in the common hamster,
Cricetus cricetus
, a species classified as CR (Critically Endangered, IUCN), was studied for the first time using a comprehensive methodological approach (morphometry, histology, light and scanning electron microscopy). The mottled coloration of this species is shown to be determined by a variety of colors of different categories of hairs, from black and white mottled coloration of overhair to zonally colored, monochromatic, or colorless guard and downy hairs. The hairs on the dorsal side of the body are thicker, arranged in irregular rows of small “false” bundles, with the follicles of different hairs lying scattered at different depths and the shafts collected into a common bundle only in the hair funnel. The features of the paired flank (FG) and unpaired midventral (MVG) glands are also considered. The FG represents a glandular field, while the MVG is a saccate organ. The hairs on both types of glands are deformed, which suggests their constant traumatization during marking behavior, lysis, falling out, and incorporation into secretions. The small dark hairs of the central cavity of the MVG have cuticular sinuses, in which the scent secretion of the gland is accumulated. In both types of glands, merocrine hepatoid glands, which add a protein component to the sebaceous secretion, are found for the first time in this species. The holo-merocrine secretion, connective-tissue, and muscular stroma of the FG and MVG differ in detail, suggesting differences in the chemical composition of the glandular parenchyma and the secretions it produces. The structural features of the hair and specific skin glands, as well as their role in the chemical communication of the common hamster are discussed.