Tanzania Veterinary Journal, 2019; 34(2): 23-34
This study aimed to investigate the gross and micro-anatomy of the placentome of Tanzanian
goats and sheep and their relationship with some foetal parameters. Forty pregnant uteri (20
from goats and 20 from sheep) were collected from slaughtered pregnant animals. Foetal age
was estimated using Crown-Rump Length formula. Other parameters such as head length (HL),
neck length (NL), fore and hind limb length, foetal weight, total number of placentomes and
placentome size and location in the uteri were taken. All placentae exhibited the typical
characteristics of a cotyledonary with discrete areas of attachment between maternal and foetal
tissues. Placentome counts ranged from 70 to 92 and 74 to 104 in sheep and goats, respectively.
The average length of placentomes was 20.0±4.2 and 30.7±9.0 in sheep and goats, respectively.
Placentomes from does in the present study were concave in shape and the majority were of
type A. Regression analysis showed a statistically significant relationship between foetal age
and placental size (r2=0.3245; p<0.001); between foetal age and foetal weight (r2=0.7364;
p<0.001); and between foetal age and placental weight (r2=0.6458; p<0.01); but the number of
placentomes insignificantly (P>0.01) varied with foetal age. In conclusion, this study has
demonstrated that the Tanzanian sheep and goat placentae are cotyledonary –
synepitheliochorial type having placentomes that tend to increase in size with gestation age in
response to greater nutrient and or metabolic requirement of the growing foetus.