title: Functional aspects of renal glomeruli based on scanning electron microscopy of corrosion casts, with special emphasis on reptiles and birds.
abstract: The glomerular complexity of several species of birds and reptiles is investigated in this study by scanning electron microscopy of vascular corrosion casts. Comparing these results with those of a freshwater teleost and a mammalian species, a trend towards small, simple glomeruli of the avian type, beginning with large, well vascularized glomeruli resembling the type found in fish, can be observed in reptiles. A close correlation between glomerular size and habitat can be established comparing related species having a similar physiological mode of renal function. Entirely different from this sauropsidian evolutionary line of development is the highly complex, large differentiation of the mammalian glomerulus.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D010856:Columbidae; D004372:Ducks; D005399:Fishes; D007076:Iguanas; D007678:Kidney Glomerulus / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008116:Lizards; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / Q000379:methods; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D051381:Rats; D013045:Species Specificity; D014426:Turtles