An investigation of the topography of the lymphatic system of the grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus). 1. The superficial lymphatic system.

The superficial lymphatic system of the grey kangaroo, Macropus giganteus is described. The description is based on dissections of 130 eastern grey kangaroos. The most significant difference found between the superficial lymphatic drainage pattern of kangaroos and that of the domestic species was the existence of large inguino-axillary lymphatic trunks in the kangaroo. Thus in the kangaroo, instead of lymph passing from the inguinal lymphocentre to the lumbar lymphatic trunks as is the situation in the domestic animals, lymph passes from the inguinal lymphocentre to the axillary lymphocentre. Apart from the lymph draining from the head and ventral neck (which passes to the superficial cervical lymphocentre) and lymph which may pass from the superficial lymphatic vessels to deeper lymphatic vessels, all the superficial lymphatic drainage of the kangaroo passes through the axillary lymphocentre. From the viewpoint of the meat inspection of the carcasses of kangaroos taken as game meat animals, pathology of the axillary lymphocentre may reflect disease in a much wider range of body regions than it would in a domestic animal.