Materials and Methods

Abstract

The ontogeny of the arteries of the pelvic extremity of the tree shrew Tupaia belangen (Wagner, 1841) was investigated on the basis of 30 dated embryos, from days 17 to 42 post-copulation. The serial sections in the collection of the Anatomisches Institut in Göttingen had already been used for investigations on other subjects (e.g., the ontogeny of the heart, Kuhn and Liebherr 1987; the arteries of the visceral arches, Dawid 1989; the v. cardinalis anterior, Steinecker 1989; the v. cardinalis posterior, Klammler 1990; the sinus venosus, Maas 1992; and the arteries of the forelimb, Matsumoto et al. 1994). To study the arteries in adult Tupaia, a corrosion cast was made. The arterial pattern found in this corrosion cast was essentially identical to the one regularly found in 30- to 42-day embryos. Therefore, although only one adult animal was investigated, this pattern can be regarded as characteristic for the adult Tupaia.