Title: Bulletin
Identifier: bulletin3119731977illi (find matches)
Year: 1918 (1910s)
Authors: Illinois. Natural History Survey Division
Subjects: Natural history; Natural history
Publisher: Urbana, State of Illinois, Dept. of Registration and Education, Natural History Survey Division
Contributing Library: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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July, 1973 Sanderson & Nalbandov: Reproductive Cycle of the Raccoon 67 Fimbria Burso ovarii
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»«'M,,irU-Co I on "_ . * V liii»^..i» I ' Vagina Cervix Uterine Body Placental scor- ^^ Urethra Uterine tiorn Oviduct Ovary Fig. 13.—Schematic drawing (ventral view) of the reproductive tract (X 0.5) of a parous female raccoon. in a uterine horn than there were corpora lutea in the corresponding ovary, but the total number of corpora lutea present in both ovaries was usually the same as the number of embryos or placental scars present in both uterine horns. The ovary in the raccoon, ovoid in shape, is completely surrounded by the bursa ovarii (Fig. 13). This sac is in- tact except for a small slit on one side, not large enough to permit passage of the ovary as in the mink (Mustela vison), dog, and fox. One of our captive fe- males had a congenital deficiency of the bursa that was large enough to permit passage of the right ovary. This opening was slightly dorsal to the normal slit in the bursa but was not connected with it. The left ovarian bursa was normal. This captive was the only such animal among several hundred examined. Watson (1881: 273-274) observed one raccoon and reported that the ovary was destitute of any peritoneal pouch or pavilion such as formed an almost complete sac in many animals. The fimbria is extensive, and in the estrous female the edge of the fimbria is bright red and protrudes through the slit in the capsule. This bit of fimbria grossly resembles the gills of a fish. The fimbria joins with the end of the oviduct. The oviduct is highly convoluted and makes an almost complete circle around the ovary before entering the uterus (Fig. 13). Two, three, and sometimes four ova were observed in a single follicle. When an ovary contained one follicle with multiple ova, several other follicles with multiple ova were usually present. Approximately 25 female raccoons from Iowa and approximately 25 from Illinois were examined for the presence of the OS clitoridis. A bone — 11 mm in length — was found in only one clitoris. Rinker (1944: 91) found four ossa cli- toridae in four female raccoons examined in Kansas, but found no bones in the clitoria of four other females from a "distant locality," apparently in Kansas. Burt (1960: 8) used Rinker's observa- tion as the basis for stating that the os clitoridis is present in the raccoon. Sanderson (1950: 398) found only one OS clitoridis among 100 female raccoons in Missouri. Because only a small per- centage of females examined from Mis-

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