Chorioallantoic and Yolk Sac Placentation in the Dassie Rat Petromus typicus and its Significance for the Evolution of Hystricognath Rodents

Abstract

Placental characters are most important in understanding the evolutionary history of hystricognath rodents of which some act as animal models for human pregnancy. The data available deal mostly with species native to South America, but the current paper presents novel findings on chorioallantoic and yolk sac placentation in an Old World hystricognath and discusses its significance for the evolution of the group. Several hystricognath stem species characters are verified for Petromus, such as the unique trophoblast growth pattern within the chorioallantoic placenta. Subsequently, a novel set of characters belonging to the visceral yolk sac is added to the stem species pattern of the group. The nourishment of the embryo is facilitated by an inverted visceral yolk sac placenta from early pregnancy onward, later complemented by the chorioallantoic placenta. About mid term, the visceral yolk sac becomes partly folded and attached to the parietal yolk sac cover of the chorioallantoic placenta, suggesting a functional shift to the transfer of substances between the two placental types. Thus, the chorioallantoic and yolk sac placenta collaborate in nurturing the embryo. This apparently represents an evolutionary transformation along the stem lineage of hystricognaths.