Morphological Description of Digestive Tract in Golden Jackal (Canis Aureus Moreoticus)

Abstract

The Golden Jackal is continuously spreading throughout central and Eastern Europe. In Romania the living area of ​​this specie is in Dobrogea and Danube Delta, south-eastern Moldova, southern Muntenia and Oltenia, West Plains and some areas in Central Transylvania Plateau. Surprisingly, despite its fast spreading during the last years, this specie has not been of great interests for researchers. Therefore, a proper understanding of the anatomy of this species is required. Using gross dissection of four subjects, this study achieves a detailed description of anatomical particularities of the digestive tract in Golden Jackal. Given the carnivorous diet, the digestive tract anatomy of Golden Jackal is adapted to this type of nutrition. The type of dentition is dyfyodont with strong and conical crown of incisors and canines. The stomach (Gaster ) is elongated without an obvious duodenal ampulla ( Ampula duodeni ). The descending duodenum ansa is not covered by omentum ( Omentum majus ). The jejunum (Jejunum) and ileon ( Ileum ) are long with well represented corresponding mesentery ( Mesenterium ). The cecum ( Caecum ) is small but obvious; the colon has no sacculations and low distinguishable sections, showing only a sigmoid expansion. Para anal glands are well developed. The entire digestive morphology of golden jackal is similar with the digestive morphology of dogs