Thymus - Second Thymus

Second Thymus

The thymus is also present in most vertebrates, with similar structure and function as the human thymus. Some animals have multiple secondary (smaller) thymi in the neck; this phenomenon has been reported for mice and also occurs in 5 out of 6 human fetuses. As in humans, the Guinea pig's thymus naturally atrophies as the animal reaches adulthood, but in the athymic hairless guinea pig (which arose from a spontaneous laboratory mutation) possessed no thymic tissue whatsoever, and the organ cavity is replaced with cystic spaces.