U.S. Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service, Lincoln, Nebraska
Date of this Version
1987
Abstract
Sperm-storage tubules (SST) are discrete tubular invaginations of the bird's oviduct epithelium located in the anterior end of the vaginal folds, a region generally referred to as the uterovaginal junction (UVJ). [We prefer to refer to the UVJ sperm-storage sites collectively as the SST (originally used by Mero and Ogasawara 1970) because SST accurately describes their function and structure.] Of the 27 recognized orders of birds, SST have been identified histologically only in selected species of Charadriiformes and Procellariformes (Hatch 1983), Galliformes (Fujii and Tamura 1963), Anseriformes (Pal 1977), and Passeriformes (Bray et al. 1975). Whether SST are structures common to all birds, as suggested by Gilbert (1979) and Hatch (1983), remains to be investigated.
The presence of SST has not been demonstrated histologically in the Falconiformes. The high frequency of copulations in the course of laying one clutch of eggs prompted Corten (1973) to suggest that SST do not exist in the Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis). Bird and Buckland (1976) observed the mean duration of fertility following artificial insemination of the American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) to be 8.1 days (range = 4-12 days). They suggested that SST were present in the oviduct. We present evidence that SST exist at the UVJ of the American Kestrel. In addition, a technique for the precise localization and isolation of oviductal mucosa containing SST is described.
Comments
Published in The Auk, Vol. 104, No. 2 (Apr., 1987), pp. 321-324.