Anatomical characterization of the kidneys of Didelphis aurita

Although widely distributed in the South American continent and highly adapted to urban centers, renal vascularization of Didelphis aurita is poorly known. Here we describe the measurements and skeletopy of the kidneys and renal vascularization of this species. With this aim, 29 specimens (14 males and 15 females) of D. aurita were collected on highways and analyzed. The rostrum-sacral length, kidney measurements (length, width and thickness) and the length of the renal vessels of specimens were measured and the renal skeletopy registered. In the right kidney, the average length, width, thickness and ellipsoid volume were 28.6±5.0 mm, 15.6±2.9 mm, 12.8±3.0mm and 3.3±2.4cm3, respectively; in the left kidney, measurements were 31.0±3.8 mm, 14.5±3.6 mm, 12.6±2.6 mm and 3.2±2.2cm3, respectively. No significant differences were observed in averages of renal dimensions between sexes and between antimeres. Though, the right renal artery (13.2±2.6 mm) was significantly longer (p < 0.01) than the left renal artery (10.7±2.3mm). Oposely, the left renal vein (13.9±3.5 mm) was longer (p < 0.01) than the right renal vein (7.0±2.3 mm). The skeletopy of the right kidney predominated between T13-L1 in 58.6% of the cases and the skeletopy of the left kidney between L1-L3 in 41.4%. The average length of the kidneys corresponded to 6 to 8% of the rostrum-sacral length of the specimens. The data presented here characterize the measurements and topography of kidneys and renal vessels of D. aurita and can support the interpretation of clinical, experimental and pathological findings in this species.