Urinogenital System of Pigeon: Excretory, Reproductive System

Urinogenital system

Excretory System

The paired kidneys which are metanephric are flat, elongated and lobulated. The ureters lead directly backward to open into the urodaeum or middle compartment of the cloaca; there is no urinary bladder. The nitrogenenous waste is excreted in the form of uric acid and discharged as a semi-solid mass. Adrenal bodies lie attached to the ventral surface of the kidneys as small yellowish elongated streaks.

Reproductive system.

A pair of ovoid testes are attached to anterior end of the kidneys by peritoneum (Figure 4.36). From each testis leads the vas deferens which runs backwards along the outer side of the ureter of that side, and opens on a small papilla into the urodaeum. The vas deferens is dilated into a seminal vesicle at its hind end. There is no copulatory organ.

The female reproductive organs consist of a single ovary on the left side which is an adaptation to aerial life and an oviduct which opens into the body-cavity by a funnel-like aperture at the anterior end and posteriorly opens into the urodaeum (Figure 4.37).