Alopecic areas have been described in the lateral and medial area of the metatarsus of South American camelids, and have been called "metatarsal glands", analogous to those present in cervids. In this study, tissue samples were collected from the metatarsal region of 8 specimens (6 adult alpacas and two foetuses [5 and 8 months]) in the slaughterhouse of Sicuani, Cusco (Peru), and were fixed in 10% buffered formalin and processed by the standard histological technique. Six samples were stained with Hematoxylin-Eosin, PAS and Golden Masson's Trichrome, and were subsequently evaluated by brightfield microscopy, and two samples of adult alpacas were processed by freezing cutting with a cryostat and subsequent differential lipid staining with Nile red and nuclear contrast with Hoecht 33342 and evaluated by fluorescence microscopy. A high epidermal tissue was observed, made up of main cells o...