MORPHOMETRICAL FEATURES OF THE CORNEAL EPITHELIUM IN MAMMALS

The study has been conducted on 40 species of mammals included in diff erent taxonomic orders: 10 carnivores (felines and canides), 13 primat es and 17 herbivores (artiodactyles, perisodactyles and proboscideans) . Domestic, experimental and wild animals have been included in the sa mple. The purpose of the study is to offer new data regarding morphome tric aspects of the epithelium of the cornea of mammals. We also aim t o establish the relationships and differences between the different ep ithelia studied and to determine the morphometric characteristics whic h best define the epithelium of the different species under study. The results obtained have demonstrated the existence of correlations betw een thicknesses. number of cellular lavers and number of the epithelia l cells in the different groups. It has also been established that the variants in thickness and number of layers define and characterize th e epithelia. Finally, the study reveals that morphometric characterist ics of the epithelium of primates and carnivores have more similaritie s than those of herbivores.