3.1. Ultrastructure of the egg shell
The ultra structural appearance of the egg shells from the non
translucent egg shells was in agreement with Brackpool (1995). In the
non translucent egg shells, there were no detrimental changes in the
mammillary caps. In the translucent egg shells mammillary caps were
of good quality with extensive attachment with the shell membrane.
However, there was an alignment of the mammillae, where the
mammillae appear to “line up” resulting in long continuous grooves
between the cones (Roberts and Brackpool, 1994). The ultrastructure
of alignment of the mammillae is shown in Fig. 1. Such alignment was
not observed in non translucent egg shells (Fig. 2). There was little
cuffing (additional calcium around the mammillary cones that
appears to contribute to shell strength) in the translucent egg shells.
Late fusion of the mammillary layer was not recorded. Depression and
erosion of mammillae were also observed in the translucent egg shells
(Fig. 3). Type B bodies which are small spherical calcified bodies