Descripción histológica de las glándulas anales del tinajo o borugo cuniculus taczanowskii

Abstract

Cuniculus taczanowskii known by the name of mountain paca, tinajo or borugo. Its habitat, found in the humid tropical forests of the northern Andes, more precisely in the territories of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Their habitat has been heavily transformed by anthropogenic interventions that generate significant changes in land use due to agricultural, urban, mining, and livestock expansions with high environmental impact (Etter & Wyngaarden, 2000; Osbahr & Ortiz, 2007), leading to the gradual loss of the borugo. In addition to this, indiscriminate hunting has contributed to the decline of the natural populations of the species (Núñez & Jorgenson, 1996; Osbahr, 1996a; 1996b) cited by Osbahr & Ortiz (2007). The population of this rodent is at risk of threat but its status has not yet been analyzed, nor modified by the IUCN (Osbahr & Ortiz, 2007). This panorama has led to studies on this rodent are abundant, seeking to know its ecology for conservation purposes, although few are those who study the anatomical characteristics of the organs involved in reproduction and social behavior. For this reason, this exploratory study carried out a histological description of the glands attached to the anal region, which reported that Cuniculus taczanowskii presents paired glands located on each side of the anal sphincter, modified sebaceous arranged in lobes and lobules, its secretion product Presents a holocrine mechanism, which leads the sebum to a main conduit that transports the secretion to the exterior of the glands. The description was compared with descriptions documented in glands with similar characteristics in other mammals where some similarities are evidenced in the secretory mechanism with other rodents whereas in location and arrangement it was found that it differs considerably in these same groups of rodents. Due to its morphological characteristics, it is suggested that the anal glands of the tinajo have an important role in the intraspecific communication and orientation of the individuals