A morphological study on the testis in camels (Camelus dromedarius) in North-Western Nigeria

Abstract

Dromedary camels can be easily recognized by their humps. They are renowned for their capacity to endure long periods without water. It is an animal species that has been scantily evaluated. The study assessed the morphometry of the camel testis in the North-Western region of Nigeria. The dataset consisted of twenty (20) testes from camel bulls ages 7 and 12 years. The data included body weight (BW), weight of the right testis (WRT), weight of the left testis (WLT), and the weight of both testes (WBT). The morphology and shape of the testes were white to greyish in colour and oval, respectively. An Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression model was used to predict the WBT based on age and BW. The model assessed the individual and combined influence of these predictors on testicular weight. The descriptive analysis showed that the body weight ranged from 362 to 562 kg, with a mean of 460.9 kilograms. The WBT ranged from 133 to 151 g, with a mean of 141.5 g. A regression model identified BW as a significant predictor of the weight of both testes. The coefficient for BW was 0.0538 (p=0.007), indicating that for every 1 kg increase in body weight, the weight of both testes increased by approximately 0.054 g. However, age was not a statistically significant predictor (p=0.988), likely due to its strong association with body weight. The model explained 35.6% of the variance in WBT (R2=0.356) suggesting that other factors might also contribute to testicular weight variability.