THE UNILATERAL ENDOMETRIAL REACTION IN THE GIANT FRUIT-BAT (PTEROPUS GIGANTEUS BRÜNNICH)

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Abstract
In the giant fruit-bat of India, Burma and Ceylon, both ovaries and uterine horns are functional, but only one ovum is released each year after copulation. As the corpus luteum becomes active (but while the fertilized ovum is still in the Fallopian tube), a progestational reaction occurs in the horn adjacent to the ovary which contains the ruptured follicle, whereas the opposite horn retains its oestrous appearance. The site of this asymmetric reaction (at which implantation subsequently takes place) is confined to the extreme distal end of the horn, where uterine and ovarian tissues lie in close proximity. Blood vessels, some of them of an apparently sinusoidal nature, traverse the short intervening isthmus, and the corpus luteum is often formed at a distance of less than 2 mm from the endometrium. In view of this unusual anatomical arrangement, it is suggested that progesterone may pass directly from the ovulatory pole of the ovary to the uterine horn, either through the vessels described, or by way of the lymphatics and tissue spaces.
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