Ka. Carson et Rk. Rose, FINE-STRUCTURE OF THE SUBMANDIBULAR SALIVARY-GLAND OF THE VENOMOUS SHORT-TAILED SHREW, BLARINA-BREVICAUDA SAY (INSECTIVORA, SORICIDAE), European journal of morphology, 31(1-2), 1993, pp. 111-128
Adult male short-tailed shrews, Blarina brevicauda, (Insectivora: Sori
cidae) were trapped in Virginia and Pennsylvania, anesthetized, and pe
rfused via the left ventricle of the heart with fixative. The submandi
bular glands were dissected free and prepared for transmission electro
n microscopy. The lobular, compound tubuloacinar glands had secretory
endpieces consisting of seromucous acini and serous tubules connected
to intercalated ducts, granular ducts, striated ducts, and excretory d
ucts. The general cytology of the submandibular gland of Blarina share
d morphological characters with individuals in several other mammalian
orders and yet differed in many ways from another Insectivore, the Eu
ropean hedgehog, Erinaceus europaeus.