Morfologia das glândulas salivares maiores do Quati (Nasua nasua)

Abstract

Nasua nasua (coatis) are animals of daytime habit, widely found in Brazilian territory. These animals belong to the masked family as well as the naked hand. Its behavior is diurnal and its characteristic physical elements are the trumpet-shaped snout and the long tail used to maintain balance. For this work, 3 orthothanized animals were used, coming from the Scientific Creatory (CECRIMPAS) -UNIFEOB authorized by IBAMA as the Process: nº 02027.003731 / 04-76. The techniques used were latex injection into the abdominal aorta to replenish the arterial bed, followed by fixation in a 10% formaldehyde solution. The major salivary glands were identified, dissected and photo-documented. Macroscopically, a pair of parotid glands can be seen located below the parotid-auricular muscle, ventral to the auricular cartilage and close to the mandibular gland. The submandibular glands were found just below the masseter muscle and the sublingual glands located under the mucous membrane of the mouth, between the body of the tongue and branch of the mandible, the zygomatics were shaped like a “half moon”, which was in close contact with the zygomatic arch. The glands presented on average: a mandibular gland 2.9 cm long, 1.5 cm wide and 0.8 cm thick; the parotid gland with a length of 3.4 cm, its width is 3.4 cm and thickness 0.8 cm on average; the zygomatic gland is 2.4 cm long and 0.7 cm wide; the monostomatic sublingual gland measures 1.6 cm while the polystomatic gland measures 1.7 cm, with a thickness of 0.1 cm. They consisted of 2 pairs, 1 on each side. It can be concluded that the coati salivary glands are similar to those of the other carnivores already studied.