Morphological Observations on the Leukocytes of the Koala, Phascolarctos cinereus (Goldfuss)

Abstract

Leukocytes from four mature koalas in good condition were examined with the light microscope (LM) and the transmission electron microscope (TEM). At the LM level, the leukocytes had morphological features similar to leukocytes of other marsupials and man. At the TEM level, the nuclear and cytoplasmic features of the leukocytes were compared to those of the leukocytes of man, and were found to be similar.