甘肃鼢鼠适应地下生活的消化道形态和结构的季节可塑性

甘肃鼢鼠(Myospalax cansus)是终生营地下生活的小型哺乳动物,为研究其在自然环境中的消化对策和调节,探讨地下鼠消化道的可塑性,测定了不同季节消化道各器官长度、重量及各器官的组织结构。结果显示,甘肃鼢鼠总消化道长度、各消化器官长度和含内容物总重量无显著季节差异。总消化道及各器官的鲜重和干重多在春季最高,含内容物重量于秋季较高。组织结构有显著性季节变化,黏膜层和肌层的厚度及肠道绒毛高度春季最高。结果表明,甘肃鼢鼠主要依靠肠道重量的增加和组织结构的可塑性变化来适应相对稳定的地下生活环境,无需增加消化器官长度满足其能量需求。

Seasonal Variations of Morphological Features and Tissue Structures of the Digestive Tract in Gansu Zokor (Myospalax cansus)

Gansu zokor (Eospalax cansus) is a small mammal that spends all their lives underground in sealed burrows. To explore the digestive strategies and the regulation in the natural environment, and to understand the plasticity of the digestive tract, the seasonal changes of digestive tract were measured at organ and tissue levels, respectively. The results were as follows: there was not significant seasonal difference between the total length and the gross including contents of digestive tract. Both the fresh and dry weight of the total tracts and various organs were highest in spring, the contents weight were higher in autumn. The organizational structure showed the significant difference in different seasons, the thickness of mucosa, muscular layer and height of intestinal villus were highest in spring. The results indicated that the major factors for Eospalax cansus to adapt to the relatively stable underground environment are the plastic changes and increasing intestinal weights, Incresing the length of digestive organs for its energy is unnecessery.