Morphofunctional structure of the lingual papillae in three species of South American Camelids: Alpaca, guanaco, and llama

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the anatomical and functional characteristics of the lingual papilla among the Camelidae. For this purpose, tongues of alpaca, guanaco, and llama were used. Numerous long and thin filiform papillae were located in the median groove and none were detected on the rest of the dorsal surface of the lingual apex in alpaca. Secondary papillae originated from the base of some filiform papillae on the ventral surface of alpaca tongue. The bases of some filiform papillae of the lateral surface of the lingual apex were inserted into conspicuous grooves in guanaco and tips of filiform papillae on the dorsal surface of the lingual body were ended by bifurcated apex. On the dorsal surface of the lingual apex of llama, there were no filiform papillae but there were numerous filiform papillae on both the lateral margins of the ventral surface of the lingual apex. Fungiform papillae were distributed randomly on dorsal lingual surface and ventral margins of the tongues of all camelid species. Lenticular papillae were located on the lingual torus and varied in size and topographical distribution for each species. Circumvallate papillae had irregular surfaces in llama and alpaca, and smooth surface in guanaco. In conclusion, llama and alpaca tongues were more similar to each other, and tongues of all camelid species displayed more similarities to those of Bactrian and dromedary camels in comparison with other herbivores and ruminants.

Light and scanning electron microscopic study of lingual papillae in the wolf (Canis lupus)

“…In the previous studies, it is reported that dorsal faces of all papillae vallatae are flat (Ates, Akaydin Bozkurt, Kozlu, Alan, & Düzler, 2013;Can et al, 2016;Erdogan et al, 2016;Erdogan & Perez, 2014;Jackowiak & Godynicki, 2004;Yoshimura et al, 2013;Zheng & Kobayashi, 2006). However, circular extensions were determined on the tongues of wolves that were varying between 10 and 14 in number.…”

“…Conic papilla filiformes determined that on the anterior two‐thirds of the dog tongue are curved posteriorly and these are exhibited seconderary conical projections (Singh, Boshell, Steflik, & McKinney, ). In a study carried out on South American camelids, it is expressed that these papillae are only seen on the median line of dorsal face of the tongues and are seen in a shape of a hook (Erdogan, Arias, & Perez, ). In another study about merino sheep, it was reported that papillae filiformes were placed on apex and corpus and rarely observed in lateral region of the tongue.…”

Morphological Studies of the Tongue of the Egyptian Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis ) and Their Lingual Papillae Adaptation for Its Feeding Habits

“…The lingual median sulcus is a characteristic morphological feature in some mammals (Iwasaki et al., ; Jackowiak and Godynicki, ; Nasr et al., ; Abumandour and El‐Bakary, ; Erdogan and Perez, ; Erdogan et al., ). In contrast, this groove is absent in some mammalian species as noted in the current study and by Emura et al.…”

“…There is species‐specific in the characteristic appearance of the lingual papillae from; size, shape, number, distribution, nomenclature and orientation between different mammalian species (Abumandour and El‐Bakary, ; Erdogan et al, ). These species differences depend on dissimilarities in types of food, feeding habits and handling of food materials in mouth (Iwasaki, ; Abumandour and El‐Bakary, ).…”

“…The histomorphological characters of the mammalian tongues reflect the variations among the lifestyles of mammals. Generally, mammalian tongues have specialized forms and structures (Iwasaki, ; Abumandour and El‐Bakary, ; Erdogan and Perez, ,; Erdogan et al., ). The mammalian tongues differ from each other as a result of their different methods in capturing and manipulating food as well as vocal modulation (Chamorro et al., ; Scala et al., ; Abumandour and El‐Bakary, ).…”