Among male goats in tropical regions, a bipartition in scrotum happens frequently Studies have shown that goats with bigger accented division in scrotum have reproductive advantages in relation to those that had not presented this characteristic, giving them a better thermoregulation for testis in the animals with bipartite scrotum. This research aimed to evaluate histological characteristics of the scrotum, in 15 goats, distributed in three groups, according to scrotal configuration (GI, unique scrotum; GII, scrotum bipartite up to 50% of the testicular length; GIII, scrotum bipartite upper than 50%). It was removed fragments of the organ and they were processed, according to histological routine and analyzed in light microscope. The scrotum skin is constituted of epidermis and dermis, and the epidermis is formed by stratified keratinizing epithelium, organized in basale, spinosum, granulosum, and corneum stratums. The epidermis width, independent of the scrotum configuration, increased gradually from the proximal to the distal region, being wider (average = 68,91µm) in GIII's animals. In the medial region of bipartite scrotum the epidermis showed to be thinner than on the raphe in animals of unique scrotum. The dermis, rare in fat tissue, showed a greater quantity of sweat apocrine glands in the animal of GIII, average of 18,12GS mm-2, while in the GI's, 16,14GS mm-2 and GII, 14,82GS mm-2, suggesting a greater production of sweat that could favor the lost of heat by evaporation. About the number of sebaceous glands, there was no statistic difference among the groups.
small ruminant; scrotal histology; skin; sweat glands
