Morphological description of the male reproductive system of the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis)

Abstract

Innumerable species of wild animals have not yet been described anatomically. The ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), a wild cat with ample geographic distribution, is an example of this. With the aim of describing the morphology of this animal, we studied the reproductive system of a young male taken from the area of Mina de Bauxita Paragominas/PA – Vale do Rio Doce, that was donated post mortem to the Instituto de Saúde e Produção Animal (ISPA) of the Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia (UFRA). The animal was fixed with formaldehyde 10% and kept in this same solution until the dissection of system under study. The masculine reproductive organs of the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) are represented by: a pair of testis; an epididymis consisting of a head, body and tail; accessory genital glands, i.e. prostate and bulbourethral glands; a masculine urethra and penis.

Keywords

• male reproductive system
• morphology
• ocelot