A morphometric analysis of the changes with age in the skin surface wax and the sebaceous gland area of Merino sheep |
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| Authors: | G H WARREN P J JAMES† A M NEVILLE |
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| Institution: | *Department of Human Morphology, Flinders University, South Australia;‡South Australian Department of Agriculture, Adelaide, South Australia |
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| Abstract: | SUMMARY Skin samples were collected from the midside of Merino ewes at 6 weeks, one year, and 3 years of age. The thickness of the surface wax and the number and area of sebaceous glands per unit length of skin were measured with an image analyser. Three-year-old sheep had a significantly (P < .05) thicker skin surface wax layer, (14.4μ± 1.45), than they did as lambs, (7.85μ± 0.88). Both the number (2.91 ± 0.15 per mm) and area (24.27 μ2/μ± 1.54) of sebaceous glands per unit length of skin of 3-year-old sheep were significantly less than in lambs, which measured 4.10 ± 0.15 per mm and 39.30 ± 4.14 μ2/μ respectively and one-year-old sheep, which measured 3.99 ± 0.21 per mm and 35.43 μ2/μ 3.65 respectively. |
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