Reproductive Biology of Bothrops erythromelas from the Brazilian Caatinga

Figure 6

Histology of the female reproductive tract of Bothrops erythromelas. (a) Anterior infundibulum. (b) Posterior infundibulum. (c) High magnification of (b) showing simple tubular glands. (d) Anterior uterus. (e) Posterior uterus. (f) Vagina. (g) Macroscopic view of the posterior uterus in B. erythromelas showing a flat condition (arrow) in the absence of uterine muscular twisting (UMT). (h) Macroscopic view of the UMT in a related species, B. mattogrossensis. (i) Reconstruction of the presence of UMT (black) in the genus Bothrops using a phylogenetic hypothesis adapted from Carrasco et al. [17]. The polymorphic condition of UMT in B. erythromelas is represented by a dashed line. CT = connective tissue; Ep = epithelium; Infg = infundibular glands (tubular gland-like invaginations); L = lumen; M = muscularis; Mc = muscularis (circular layer); Ml = muscularis (longitudinal layer); Mf = mucosal folds; P = pouch; STG = simple tubular gland; UG = uterine gland; UMT = uterine muscular twisting.

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