Anatomy of the cecum of the dwarf hamster (phodopus sungorus).

The cecal anatomy of the dwarf hamster, Phodopus sungorus, was investigated macroscopically and at the light, transmission electron microscopic and scanning electron microscopic levels. In addition, the arterial supply to the cecum and connecting mesenteries were elucidated. The cecum is divisible into an ampulla ceci and a corpus ceci. In the former, the differentiation of the ileocecal orifice and circumventing fold is described. Scanning electron microscopically, the surface topography of the cecum appears as ring-walled elevations with a central depression and looped configurations, which correlate light microscopically to a "rolling-hills" type mucosa with wide-opened crypts. This type of mucosa is set in contrast to the classically described large intestinal mucosa in man and some other mammals. The present observations are compared with descriptions made on the cecum of the common field vole, Microtus agrestis, also a myomorph but belonging to another subfamily.