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Effects Of Season On Kidney Morphology In House Sparrows, Giovanni Casotti

Giovanni Casotti

Seasonal variability in kidney morphology of the house sparrow Passer domesticus was examined using light microscopy. Sparrows were captured from the wild in winter, spring, summer and autumn, The kidneys were perfused with half-strength Karnovsky's fixative and processed for light microscopy by embedding in either paraffin wax or JB4 acrylic resin, Absolute volumes of the kidneys, their components (cortex, medulla and blood vessels), components of the nephron (renal corpuscles, proximal tubules, loops of Henle, distal tubules and collecting ducts) and the capillaries surrounding the nephron were quantified using stereology, Tissue processed in paraffin wax had a mean shrinkage of 17.7 …