A Histological Study of the Pigment Development in the Skin of the Syrian Golden Hamster and the Albino Hamster With Particular Attention to the Ear
Abstract
I. INTRODUCTIONThe skin of the Syrian golden hamster, Mesocricetus auratus (L.) is without color at birth, and apparently without hair covering, but within a few days the animal acquires a grayish-brown coat. This gradually changes in about two weeks to a dark, golden-brown color with deeper markings on the back and sides and white fur on the belly. Five days after birth, the tip of the ear darkens and by eleven days of life the ear is colored black, except at the base, where the flesh retains its pink color. The albino mutant, on the other hand is covered with white fur which persists throughout life. At thirty days of life, however, a dark color first makes its appearance at the tip of the ear. This gradually darkens and at two months the black color of the skin of the ear is similar in appearance to the ear of the eleven-day-old golden hamster, These changes in the skin color of the ears of the golden and the albino hamsters have been reported by Wolaky and John (1956) and by Adams, Patt and Lutz (1956).This paper deals with the histological changes in the skin of the hamster and with observations of the pigment development in the skin of various parts of the body with particular attention to the ear of the golden hamster, as distinguished from the albino mutant. Pieces of skin were taken from the golden hamster and from the albino hamster for the purpose of observing the time of appearance of the pigment, its location, and how the pigment is arranged in the skin. Robinson (1955) notes the appearance of melanin pigment in the skin of the vulva and anus in the female and of the scrotum and spots in the prepuce in the male in the golden and cream hamsters. During the present observations a heavy, black color was noticed in the eyelid of the golden hamster but these regions are not considered in this paper.
Subject Area
Cellular biology|Developmental biology
Recommended Citation
Tice, Mary Claudia, "A Histological Study of the Pigment Development in the Skin of the Syrian Golden Hamster and the Albino Hamster With Particular Attention to the Ear" (1960). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI28673366.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI28673366
