Some aspects of macroscopic studies of the placentation in the camel (Camelus dromedarius)

The paper presents some salient aspects of a study on the placentation of camel at gross, light and electron microscopic levels. The study involved factors analysis on five pregnant uteri from camel slaughter house in Yazd, Iran. The experimental observations confirmed that unlike other animals, in camel, the fetus only developed in the left horn of the uterus. Based on the distribution type of the chorionic villi, in camel, similar to horse, the placenta was found to be in diffused form. At light microscopic level, the results revealed six layers between the fetal and maternal blood. From this it inferred that camel's placenta was also of epitheliochorial form. The detailed examination further showed that similar to cow and sheep umbilical cord in camel was also limited to the amniotic sac but it contained two arteries, two veins and one urachus. Little amount of elastic fibers were also observed in the histological and electron microscopical sections. At the electron microscopic level, both binucleated and mononucleated cells in trophoblastic layer were confirmed.