Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
SLOVENIAN VETERINARY RESEARCH, cilt.61, sa.4, ss.291-297, 2024 (SCI-Expanded)
This study examined the anatomical and histological features of lingual papil-
lae in squirrels. Two adult male squirrel tongues were used as the material in the study.
Three parts were detected in the tongue: apex, corpus, and radix. There was a median
sulcus on the apex of the tongue and an intermolar prominence on the body of the
tongue. Five types of papillae such as filiform, conical, fungiform, vallate, and foliate
were observed on the tongues of the squirrels. Filiform papillae were located from the
apex of the tongue to the root as the dominant papilla. Conical papillae were observed
on the intermolar prominence, on the sides of the tongue root, and between the vallate
papillae. The direction of this papillae was oriented caudomedially. Fungiform papillae
were randomly distributed among the filiform papillae. These papillae were mushroom
shaped and had slits that separated them from filiform papillae. Three vallata papillae,
arranged in a triangle with the apex pointing backward, were found on the root of the
tongue. These papillae were surrounded by a trench. Foliate papillae were observed like
mucosal folds in the caudolateral part of the tongue. On light microscopic examination,
lingual papillae were covered with stratified squamous epithelium and had connective
tissues. There were varying degrees of keratinization on the epithelial surfaces of the
papillae. Although taste buds were seen in the epithelial layer of the fungiform and val-
late papillae, they were not observed in the epithelium of the grooves of the foliate pa-
pillae. The findings obtained in the study were compared with those obtained from the
lingual papillae of other rodents, and similarities and differences were revealed.