Abstract :
A total of eight heads of adult male donkeys were used to investigate the morphological features of parotid and mandibular salivary glands involved (Location, relation, shape, length, thickness, volume and weight) of each gland. The parotid glands were the largest gland, had irregular shape and composed of four lobes, it located in the retromandibular fossa, medially attached part of wall of guttural pouch and diagastricus muscle, laterally covered by parotidoaricular muscle, caudally to the mandible and masseter muscle and extended from base of the external ear, closed to the external carotid artery, the means of the length, width, weight and size of parotid gland were 19.10 ± 0.28 cm, 5.23 ± 0.11 cm, 80.52 ± 2.28 g and 79.8 ± 3.01 mm3 respectively, the major parotid duct was passed medially to angle of jaw to perforate the check in front of the 5th upper molar tooth, the total length and diameter of the main parotid duct was 18.2 ± 0.3 cm and 0.61 ± 0.02 cm respectively. The mandibular gland was lobulated, had crescent shape, covered by parotid gland and jugular vein, cranially to brachiocephalicus muscle dorsally to larynx, ventrally to the digastricus muscle medially to omohyoid muscle, the means of the length, width, weight and size of mandibular gland were 16.93 ± 1.03 cm, 2.56 ± 0.09 cm, 25.22 ± 1.65 g and 24.2 ± 1.91 mm3 respectively, the major duct of the mandibular gland was passed rostrally for digastricus and styloglossus muscles to open at papilla of the sublingual caruncle, the total length of the duct was 23.8 ± 0.9 cm and 0.56 ± 0.09 cm width.
