Morphological and morphometrical aspects of intima and media of the common, external and internal iliac arteries in Chinchilla lanigera (Rodentia, Chinchillidae) bred in captivity

Abstract

The paper approaches deal with fine differential morphological and morphometrical aspects of the structure of three main blood vessels in Chinchilla lanigera: the common iliac artery, the internal iliac artery and the external iliac artery. A series of morphological assessments combined with morphometrical data of the intimal layer, dimensions of the media of the vessels, number of elastic laminae and characteristics observed, alow an interesting conclusion when data is regarded in the light of the classical division of the vessels – of muscular, elastic or transitional type. A complex statistical approach (PostHoc tests) is added to highlight some fine differences in terms of metrical data among these three arteries. The complex statistical investigation brings some interesting facts in terms of series resemblances, leading to a reasonable conclusion that the transition from elastic to muscular type of arteries should not be regarded inflexibly, arteries sharing different features, depending on anatomical sector and species.