COMPARATIVE MORPHOLOGY OF SPECIFIC SKIN GLANDS IN STEPPE MARMOT (MARMOTA BOBAK SCIURIDAE, RODENTIA)

摘要

The complex microscopic investigation of the structure of specific skin glands was made in steppe marmot (Marmota bobac). The following glands were studied: Meibomian, Harderian, in angulus oris, cheek, glands of external acoustic meatus, anal, circumanal, and palmar. Different glands are formed by several types of glands: holocrine sebaceous, apocrine and eccrine sudoriferous, and tubuloalveolar. Some specific skin glands in marmots are identical to glands of other rodents by topography, but differ from them by structure. These are pouch-like anal glands with mixed secret from sebaceous and apocrine glands. Marmots have apocrine cheek glands. These glands are absent in other rodents. Specific skin glands are used in chemocommunication of marmots. They use gland secrets for marking their territory and in social behavior. Based on the results obtained and literature data, one can conclude that the set of glands described can be used as a taxonomic criterion for the Marmota species inhabiting Eurasia and North America.