The endocrine system consists of a series of glands that produce regulatory chemicals, which are known as hormones. The term endocrine means that these glands lack ducts, or exit passageways. They secrete their products directly into the cellular environment. The endocrine system includes these glands: pituitary, pineal, thymus, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, pancreatic_islets, ovaries, and testes. We will review some, but not all, of these in our lab.

We will discuss the ovaries and testes in detail when we review the reproductive systems in a few weeks. For now, you are only responsible for being able to identify the ovaries and testes in the cat. Since you only receive one cat in lab, you will have to look at another lab team's cat to see the gonads not associated with your particular cat.