Abstract:
Birds have developed a highly specialized cardiovascular system to meet the rigorous energy demands of running,
flying, swimming or diving in different environmental conditions, some of them extremely harsh. Although the
bibliographic study showed the interest of anatomists in researching the cardiovascular system in birds, the structure
and functions of this system are far more limited than in mammals. It was found that individual morphological variants
appear in any new research. This represents a motivation in carrying out a morphological study of the celiac artery in
duck, in order to complete the data from the literature, through original descriptions and images. The studies were
carried out on ten duck corpses (Anas platyrhynchos), by the injection method with plastic contrast material. Some
results corresponded to the data from the literature, but it was also possible to identify elements for the first time, such
as an anastomosis observed between the dorsal and ventral proventricular arteries in 70% of the cases. Also as novel
elements, peculiarities of the topography of the origin of some arteries were identified in some specimens, as well as
different sources of irrigation for certain segments of the digestive tube in this species.
