Morphology of the digestive system guaiquica (Gracilinanus microtarsus)

• Grant number: 11/24164-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2012
• End date: December 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Anatomy
• Principal Investigator: Celina Almeida Furlanetto Mançanares
• Grantee: Luis Miguel Lobo
• Host Institution: Pró-Reitoria de Pesquisa e Extensão. Centro Universitário da Fundação de Ensino Octávio Bastos (UNIFEOB). Fundação de Ensino Octávio Bastos (FEOB). São João da Boa Vista , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The guaiquica (Gracilinanus microtarsus), belongs to the family Didelphidae which is a very important family among marsupials, as well as contain many species (opossums), represents the model group of marsupials. Ancestral marsupials, from the Cretaceous period, had very similar morphological characteristics of the neotropical opossums today. So their reproductive adaptations are considered directly related to primitive marsupials, and this similarity is of great interest for the comparative study of their biology. The guaiquica an animal is omnivorous-frugivorous. By feeding on small fruits, is a species of considerable importance in the dispersal of seeds of some trees, because it can travel long distances within the forests looking for food, and spreads this quest along with their feces, the seeds of who ate fruit. Although less significant in the establishment of phylogenies that have been most other systems, to have shares listed on the nature (small intestine) and partly because it is simple (gallbladder) and also to vary in a limited way in evolutionary aspects (lobulations liver, pancreas or bowel) reveals the digestive system and general eating habits, occasionally, its structure is useful for systematically. The digestive system functions are: to receive the food eaten and store it temporarily reduce it physically and chemically absorb the products of digestion, retain for a period of time the remains unabsorbed, and then eliminate them. It constitutes the alimentary canal that extends from mouth to anus, including certain glands, such as the salivary glands, pancreas and liver. The parts of the digestive tract in their proper sequence are: mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine and anus. It is important to emphasize that generalizations regarding the pattern of the anatomy of these small marsupials must be made with caution due to the fact that few specimens have been studied in detail. This research aims to analyze, describe and characterize the macroscopic and microscopic Guaiquica the digestive tract (Gracilinanus microtarsus). (AU)