Ultrastructure of the ventricular myocardium of the bat Eidolon helvum

Ultrastructural studies, including a preliminary morphometric analysis, of the right ventricular myocardium in the West African bat Eidolon helvum show that the myocytes contain a wider T-tubule system and a higher proportion of mitochondria and lipid droplets than in typical terrestrial mammals such as the rat; these features in the bat are even mor pronounced than in hibernating species such as the golden hamster. In addition to having coupling arrangements with T-tubules and surface sarcolemma, cisterns of junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum are closely apposed to mitochondria and lipid droplets.