Abstract:
The morphometric body parameters of male and female Bactrian
camels, Kazakh Bactrian, were studied. Compared to camels of other breeds,
the Kazakh Bactrian turned out to be one of the largest camels, having up to
750 kg for males and 690 kg for females, as well as powerful musculature
and thick fur. Sexual dimorphism in body size and weight of males and
females has been shown. The height at the withers of males was higher than
in females by about 3.2 %, oblique length of the trunk by 4.5 %, chest girth
by 1.3 %, and tibia girth by 6.6 % higher than in females. The greatest
difference was in the live weight of the animals - 23,4 %. A histological
study of one of the important internal organs - kidneys - was carried out,
which allow camels to adapt to the conditions of waterless deserts. As a
result of histological study of the kidneys of Kazakh Bactrians, the following
characteristics of camel kidneys were established: the kidney capsule is
rather thick (470±12 μm) and is made up of two layers: a layer of collagen
fibres (400 μm) and thin (70 μm) inner smooth muscle cells. The relative
thickness of the capsule and the presence of the smooth muscle cell layer
within it appear to be related to the kidney's ability to hold high intrarenal
pressure while producing highly concentrated urine. The second feature of
the Bactrian kidney was that the medullary layer was much thicker than the
cortical layer. Their ratio was 1:4. The thick cerebral layer in camels
provides relatively long renal tubules and loops of Henle, which are essential
for the excretion of concentrated urine.
