IX.—Scottish National Antarctic Expedition: Observations on the Anatomy of the Weddell Seal (Leptonychotes Weddelli). Part II.

• Published in: Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
• Main Author: Hepburn, David
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1912
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; General Environmental Science; Antarctic; Weddell; Antarc*; Leptonychotes weddelli; Weddell Seal
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0080456800018822; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0080456800018822

In my former contribution I gave a general summary of the animal under consideration, and discussed in detail the peritoneal arrangements of its abdominal cavity and the naked-eye anatomy of its alimentary organs. In the present paper I shall give an account of the genito-urinary system. The kidneys were situated on each side of the dorsal mesial mesentery. Each was covered on its ventral aspect by the peritoneum forming the dorsal wall of the greater peritoneal sac. The right kidney was quite free from contact with the liver and the duodenum, while the left kidney was equally free from contact with the spleen. Both kidneys were therefore situated well back towards the pelvic end of the abdominal cavity. Each kidney measured 5 inches in the longitudinal diameter and 2 inches in the transverse diameter. The hinder or caudal end of each reached a point two inches from the pelvic inlet, which, as formerly described, was narrow and well defined by the course of the hypogastric (umbilical) arteries.