Morphological variation in the testes and accessory sex organs of Australian rodents in the genera Pseudomys and Notomys

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Abstract
The relative size and histology of the testes of sexually active adult Pseudomys and Notomys differed markedly between species. Average weight of testes (as percentage of body weight) ranged from .apprx. 3 percent in P. australis and P. nanus to .apprx. 0.15% in most Notomys. In the testes of most species, interstitial tissue was relatively sparse, but in P. apodemoides, P. delicatulus and P. hermannsburgensis it was abundant and consisted of a mass of lipid-rich epithelioid Leydig cells. Seminiferous tubule diameters were similar in all species, but epididymides ranged from .apprx. 500 mg in weight (.apprx. 1% body wt) in P. australis to .apprx. 20 mg (.apprx. 0.05% body wt) in most Notomys. Numbers of spermatozoa in the paired cauda epididymidis ranged from .apprx. 500 .times. 106 in P. australis and P. nanus to .apprx. 2 .times. 106 in 3 of 4 Notomys species.