Gross Morphological Structure of Digestive System in Water Monitor Lizard Varanus salvator (Squamata: Varanidae)

Nattawut SRICHAIRAT; Wut TAKSINTUM; Pramote CHUMNANPUEN

doi:10.48048/wjst.2018.3356

Authors

Nattawut SRICHAIRAT Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Bangkok 10900
Wut TAKSINTUM Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Bangkok 10900
Pramote CHUMNANPUEN Computational Biomodelling Laboratory for Agricultural Science and Technology, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Bangkok 10900 http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3072-1733

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.48048/wjst.2018.3356

Keywords:

Digestive organs, gastrointestinal tract, gross anatomy, Varanidae, water monitor lizards

Abstract

Currently, the water monitor lizard (Varanus salvator) is recognized as an economic animal especially for the leather trade. Since the anatomical study of its digestive organs is essential for farming and feeding management, we conducted an anatomical study of the digestive organs of this species. This study aimed to describe the gross morphological structure of the digestive organ. This organ consisted of a slender tongue that was deeply bifid and retracted in a sheath, a short pharynx, a slender esophagus with a thick muscular walled tube a striated stomach that was largest in the curved part, a coiled small intestine without a caecum, a striated large intestine (the posterior part of which was connected to the coprodeal cloaca), a pyramidal liver with 3 lobes, a gallbladder embedded at the lower part of the middle liver lobe, and a yellowish pancreas. This study provided information about the gross morphological and internal surface structures of the digestive organs in V. salvator that could be used in the biological and veterinary sciences and other related studies.

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