Three-Dimensional Structure and Disposition of the Air Conducting and Gas Exchange Conduits of the Avian Lung: The Domestic Duck (Cairina moschata)
Figure 4
Silicon rubber casts showing the disposition of the secondary bronchi and parabronchi in the duck lung. (a) Dorsolateral view showing the LD (dark arrows) emerging at the junction between the neopulmonic (NP) and paleopulmonic (PL) regions. The LD gain a superficial position, curve dorsally and course towards the dorsal border giving rise to parabronchial branches that meet and anastomose with those from the MV. Note that the neopulmonic region (NP) takes the ventral third of the lung and extends the entire length of the lung. Dark arrowheads denote the branches of LD and EPB denotes the extrapulmonary primary bronchus. (b) On the ventral aspect, the 4 MV (1–4) are clearly visible, the first one coursing cranially, the second dorsally, and the last two caudally. Notice also a lateroventral secondary bronchus (L1) emerging from the MV4 while the second one (L2) emerges from the mesobronchus (MB). The MV1 serves the craniomedial aspect of the lung, MV2 and MV3 the dorsomedial and caudal medial aspects, respectively, while MV4 largely supplies the neopulmonic (NP) region.
