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The nasal cavities of the Toad Hemipipa carvalhoi Mir. ‐Rib. and other Pipidae.
Author(s) -
PATERSON NELLIE F.,
HINDLE EDWARD
Publication year - 1951
Publication title -
proceedings of the zoological society of london
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0370-2774
DOI - 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1951.tb00802.x
Subject(s) - biology , toad , anatomy , zoology , ecology
SUMMARY. 1. The results of a microscopical study of the nasal cavities of Hemipipa carvalhoi when compared with observations on Pipa, Hymenochirus and Xenopus reveal significant similarities between the latter genus and Hemipipa. 2. It is considered that a recessus olfactorius, similar to that described by Helling (1938) in other Salientia, is present in the Pipidae. The “Nebenhöhle” of Xenopus (Föske, 1934) and the “lateral nasal canal” of Pipa (Bancroft, 1895) cannot, therefore, be homologous with the recessus olfactorius as Helling maintains, and the opinion is expressed that they represent the cavum medium of other forms. 3. The cavum medium (Bancroft's “lateral nasal canal”) consists of anterior and posterior parts, the latter being further subdivided into dorsal‐lateral, ventro‐lateral and medial recesses. 4. The “nasal canal” of Pipa (Bancroft, 1895) is considered to be comparable to the infundibulum of other Salientia. 5. The cavum inferius is divisible into a medial organ of Jacobson and a more lateral part, which Föske (1934) termed the “Mündungszone” of Jacobson's organ, but which herein is compared to the recessus lateralis. 6. The suggestion is made that the thin‐walled, posterior sac, usually regarded as the homologue of the recessus lateralis, may be a diverticulum of the latter, the arrangement of the cavum inferius resembling that of Bombina variegata (Slabbert, 1945). 7. The nasal cavities in the Pipidae are remarkable in that they are mainly lined by sensory epithelium, the presence of which is rather inexplicable unless it be used for olfactory perception when the animal is submerged. 8. Föske's suggestion (1934) that the thin‐walled diverticula of the cavum medium of Xenopus function as accessory pulsating sacs has been examined, but it is concluded that movements of skeletal elements are probably more effective in maintaining the flow of water through the nasal cavities. It is thought that the nasolacrimal duct may be of importance in Xenopus as an inlet for water bathing the sensory epithelium of the cavum medium.