Koznye jeley Mongol'skogo sourka [Les glandes cutanées de la marmotte de Mongolie. The skin glands of the Mongolian marmot].

Résumé

The mongolian marmot is one of the economically important fur bearing animal of the mongolian fauna. At present Mongolia is the only exporter of the valuable fur of this marmot. But, however, our knowledge of its biology is far from complete. The information about chemical communication of the marmots is nearly lacking, neither we know much about the sources of chemical signals. That is why the purpose of this investigation has been to study the topography, anatomy and histology of the skin glangs of the mongolian marmot, their corelation with sex and age as well as seasonal variations. In the species under study the exocrine glands were found in the oral angles, in the skin of the soles, around the anus, in the upper and lower eyelids and in the orbit. The plantar glands are tubular structures located in the pads on the soles. The glands of the eyelids (meibomian glands) are found on the wider surface of the upper and lower eyelids. The ducts of these large acinous glands are opening on the eyelid surface, some of them empty into hair follicles. The orbital. Herderian gland is a tubular gland featured by wide lumens and mined serous-mucous secretion. As to the oral angles three groups of glands can be distingnished : large acinous glands that are closely associated with hair follicles, and two complements of tubular glands differing in their location and tinctorial features. The anal glands can be described as three massive skin sacs the walls of which contain large acinous glands emptying directly into the sacs cavity. The acinous glands are surrounded by a sed of tubular glands with basophylic epithelial cells. All the above mentioned glands have appeared to be fully developed only in sexually mature individuals. The plantar glands, the anal glands and the glands of the oral angle demonstrate seasonal variation of their structure. During the breeding season these glands increase in size, what can be interppreted as the indication of the effect of sex hormones on the glands function. These are, at least, five areas on the skin of the mongolian marmot where the exocrine glands are located. Some of these potential sources of pheromones are under hormonal control and hence they could play some role in sexual behavior.