The Digestive System of the Agouti(<i>Dasyprocta leporina</i>) －Gross Anatomy and Histology－

Abstract

Gross and morphometric studies were undertaken on 10 digestive tracts of the agouti(Dasyprocta leporina). The most prominent features included a long small intestine which had a mean length of 700.16±124 cm and formed 49.1±3.9 % of the total weight of the entire digestive tract. The large intestine had a large sacculated caecum which formed 16.8±4.11% of the total weight of the digestive tract. The colon and rectum had a mean length of 117.0±2.5 cm and formed 18.788±2.11 % of the total weight of the digestive tract. Large anal sac glands had openings into the anus. The histology of the different components of the digestive tract was done on a male agouti and the results suggested that the small intestine has a remarkable proliferation of villi;the epithelium is simple columnar. Numerous intestinal glands were located towards the base of the epithelium, and the glands had numerous globlet cells.