The Ultrastructure of Eggshells of Chrysolophus pictus and Chrysolophus amherstiae

Chrysolophus,an endemic genus of Chinese pheasants,has two species.They are C.pictus and C.amherstiae,considered as 2nd category of animals for protection under Chinas game laws.They are mainly distributing in the central and western parts of China.The present paper deals with our studies of the ultrastructural eggshell of the two species.There has been so far no works dealing with the ultrastructural eggshell of both C.pictus and C.amherstiae in China or the rest of the world.The microstructures of avian eggshell are composed chiefly of cuticle,outer shell membrane,mammilary core,cone layer,palisade layer,basal cap,pore channel and pore mouth etc.The results of our observation of the above ultrastructural eggshell of both C.pictus and C.amherstiae may be summaried as follows.