Morphological and histological finding of proventriculus and gizzard in Iraqi local crow (Linnoecus Corvus)

Abstract

         The gross anatomical and histological structure of the proventriculus and gizzard in local crow (Linnoecus Corvus) were the goal of the current study. Twenty adult birds were obtained from bird hunters in Diyala province and weighed all the birds, the mean total body weight was (206.818± 0.22) gm, and the mean total body weight of stomach was 6.971± 0.33g.  The stomach of the local Iraqi crow appeared as muscular organ divided into two parts glandular and muscular part that lined in the left caudal of the coelomic cavity, while the proventriculus appeared as tubular in form. An internal surface of gizzard was connected with the small intestine through an opening as a slit. In the current study the histological description of the stomach in the local Iraqi crow showed that the stomach consists of four layers (mucosa, submucosa, muscularis, and serosa). The mucosa consists of three layers. No mucosal glands were observed in mucosal lamina and there were many tubular glands present in submucosa lined by simple cuboidal epithelium. The muscular layer of stomach (gizzards) has four layers similar proventriculus.