Intestine vascularization of sloth (Bradypus variegatus SCHINZ, 1825)

Common sloth (Bradypus variegatus) is a mammal that belongs to the superorder Xenarthra, typical from neotropical regions, with geographic distribution from Honduras to northern Argentina. Our study aimed to describe the intestine blood supply of these Bradipodids in order to collaborate with the clinical-surgical for these animals. For that, ten animals, included four females and six males, were sampled from the collection of the Anatomy Division, Department of Animal Morphology and Physiology, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco DMFA/UFRPE. Corpses received formalin, preserved in saline solution and subsequently dissected for description of the cranial (AMCr) and caudal (AMC) mesenteric arteries. Sixty percent of sloths presented AMCr and AMC, cwhile 30% of them had intestines (small and large) irrigation from the common mesenteric artery (AMCo), an arterial trunk from which AMCr and AMC originated. For 10% of the specimens, the entire intestine was vascularized only by AMCr. Along the AMCr branches, there were arched arrangements, with arches size reductionat the level of the small intestine. Therefore, B. variegatus presents anatomical variations regarding the irrigation of the intestine, which can be made from AMCr and AMC, from the AMCo arterial trunk or to a lower frequency exclusively through AMCr branches.