Cardiac glands with a difference- scanning electron microscopy of the cardiac gland region in the stomach of the babirusa (Babyrousa babyrussa), domestic pig (Sus scrofa domestica), white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) and Bennet's wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus)

Abstract

The stomach of the babirusa differs from that of other pigs: it is larger and possesses a large diverticulum ventriculi, the gastric glands are confined to a small section at the end od the corpus ventriculi, the cardiac glands occupy a much larger surface area within teh stomach (>70% v. ~ 30% in the domestic pig) and there are some variations in the distribution of endocrine cells. It was hypothesised that the babirusa is a non-ruminant foregut fermenting frugivore/concentrate selector. Scanning electron microscopy of very freshly fixed cardiac gland tissue from the stomachs of nine babirusa revealed that the surface of the whole of the cardiac gland region was characterised by a honeyconb pattern.