The morphology of the pineal gland of the yellow-toothed cavy (Galea Spixii Wagler, 1831) and red-rumped agouti (Dasyprocta leporina linnaeus, 1758)

• Published in: Microscopy research and technique Vol. 78; no. 8; pp. 660 - 666
• Main Authors: Câmara, Felipe Venceslau, Guimarães Lopes, Igor Renno, Benevides de Oliveira, Gleidson, Fernandes Bezerra, Ferdinando Vinicius, Matias de Oliveira, Radan Elvis, Oliveira Júnior, Carlos Magno, Rodrigues Silva, Alexandre, de Oliveira, Moacir Franco
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-08-2015; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adults; Animals; Elongated structure; endocrine gland; Histocytochemistry; Mammals; microscopy; Microscopy, Electron; Morphology; neural epiphysis; Photography; Pineal gland; Pineal Gland - anatomy & histology; Pineal Gland - chemistry; Pineal Gland - cytology; Rodentia; Rodentia - anatomy & histology; Scanning electron microscopy; Topography; Wild animals; neural epiphysis; microscopy; endocrine gland; Rodentia
• ISSN: 1059-910X; 1097-0029
• DOI: 10.1002/jemt.22519

ABSTRACT
The pineal gland is an endocrine gland found in all mammals. This article describes the morphology of this important gland in two species of Caviideae, namely the yellow‐toothed cavy and the red‐rumped agouti. Ten adult animals of the two species used in current analysis were retrieved from the Center for the Multiplication of Wild Animals (CEMAS/UFERSA) and euthanized. The glands were removed and photographed in situ and ex situ. They were fixed in a paraformaldehyde solution 4% or glutaraldehyde 2.5% solution and submitted to routine histological techniques respectively for light and scanning electron microscopy. Macroscopically, the pineal gland with its elongated structure may be found between the cerebral hemispheres facing the rostral colliculi. Microscopically, pinealocytes and some glia cells were predominant. Contrastingly, to the cavy's pineal gland, a capsule covered the organ in the agouti, with the emission of incomplete septa to the interior, which divided it into two lobules. Light and scanning electron microscopes failed to show calcareous concretions in the pineal gland. Based on the topography of the cavy's and agouti's pineal gland, it may be classified as supra‐callosum and ABC type. Microsc. Res. Tech. 78:660–666, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.