title: Morphology of the copulatory apparatus of the spotted tinamou Nothura maculosa (Aves: Tinamiformes).
abstract: The components of the copulatory apparatus of Nothura maculosa were identified and studied by means of dissections, parenteral latex injections and standard histological and histochemical techniques. N. maculosa possesses an intromittent phallus with a tubular cavity, within which a fixed base and a tubular portion can be distinguished. An ejaculatory groove, which is supported by a fibrous body, runs dorsally at the base of the phallus. The tubular portion of the phallus inserts into the fibrous body, the former possessing two continuous but morphologically distinct parts, one of which is eversible and is extruded during erection while the other is a fixed non-eversible glandular portion. The walls of both parts are formed by the mucosa, an intermediate layer of connective tissue containing a wide lymphatic space which surrounds the whole perimeter of the tube, and an external layer of dense connective tissue. The mucosa of the eversible portion, which lodges the phallic groove, is lined by a non-keratinized stratified squamous epithelium. In the fixed tubular portion, the tubular lumen is reduced in size, the phallic groove disappears, the mucosa becomes folded and there occurs an abrupt change to a pseudostratified columnar secretory epithelium. The copulatory apparatus of N. maculosa includes the vascular bodies of the phallus, which show morphofunctional continuity with the phallic structures, thus forming a single system involved in erection. On erection, the eversible portion of the phallus evaginates and emerges from the cloacal opening as a spiral shaped structure directed towards the left.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Morfologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil. cleida@mono.icb.ufmg.br
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Mahecha
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D002988:Cloaca / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000166:cytology; D004542:Ejaculation; D005837:Genitalia, Male / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000166:cytology; D007840:Latex; D008297:Male; D010413:Penis / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000098:blood supply / Q000166:cytology
chemical_list: D007840:Latex