Kidney development in the Brazilian grey short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis Domestica)

Kidney development was examined by histological methodology in the opossum Monodelphis domestica from birth through to 21 days of age. The pronephros and metanephros are rudimentary in the neonate, the well-developed mesonephros being the functional kidney. Regression of the latter has commenced by day 10, at which time renal corpuscles and tubules are detectable in the metanephros. By day 16 both kidneys are well-formed and by day 21 the mesonephros has degenerated and the metanephros, composed of glomeruli, Bowman’s capsules and tubules, has taken over as the functional kidney. No evidence of a mesonephric contribution to the gonads was found.