POST-NATAL DEVELOPMENT OF PRESCAPULAR LYMPH NODE IN ONE-HUMPED CAMEL (Camelus dromedarius): A MORPHOMTRIC STUDY

Abstract

The study aimed at forming a base line data on prescapular lymph node of one- humped camel (Camelus dromedarius) at post-natal stage of development and determination of the role of the lymph node in disease resistance of the animal species. A morphometric study was conducted on the prescapular lymph nodes of thirty camels (15 each from male and female) collected from Sokoto metropolitan abattoir over a period of three weeks at different post-natal ages. The approximate age of the camels was estimated using rostral dentition. The morphologic observations revealed that the lymph nodes were relatively large elongated, pinkish, palpable structures situated in the caudal and ventral part of the neck, cranial to the shoulder joint and between the superficial pectoral and the sternocephalic muscles. There is a progressive increase in length, width, weight and volume of the lymph nodes with advancement in age in both sexes. These biometrical variables are relatively higher in male than in female.