Fig. 7. Histology of the mucosal epithelium of fasting snakes. (A) Methacrylate-embedded section of the small intestine; Methylene Blue/Thionine stain. Scale bar, 50µm (same magnification as Fig. 6A). The mucosal epithelium is a typical pseudostratified transitional epithelium. Note that no lacteals or lipid droplets can be seen and the capillaries are small and empty. (B) Low-power electron micrograph of enterocytes. An amoeboid cell can be seen in the lower half of the image (asterisk). Scale bar, 2µm. (C) High-power electron micrograph of microvilli. Compare with Fig. 6D, which was taken at the same magnification. Scale bar, 0.5µm. (D) High-power electron micrograph of enterocyte membrane forming typical folds (arrow) of spare membrane. Scale bar, 0.4µm. (E) High-power electron micrograph showing extensive folding (arrow) of the basal membrane in the relaxed state. Scale bar, 1.7µm.