Morphology of the lingual papillae in the fishing cat

Abstract

Summary:We examined the dorsal lingual surface of an adult fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) by scanning electron microscopy. The filiform papillae on the lingual apex had several pointed processes. The connective tissue core of the filiform papillae resembleda a well in shape. The filiform papillae on the anterior part of the lingual body were large and cylindrical in shape. The connective tissue core of the filiform papillae consisted of a large conical papilla. The filiform papillae on the central part of the lingual body were large and conical. The connective tissue core of the filiform papillae consisted of a large main process and some secondary processes. The connective tissue core of the fungiform papillae did not have processes. The vallate papillae were surrounded by a groove and a pad. The top of the connective tissue core of the vallate papillae had a rough surface with no spines.

Papillary architecture of the lingual surface in the puma (Puma concolor)

“…In puma, the dorsal surface of the lingual apex and body was entirely covered by filiform papillae that was reported in many carnivorous species such as bear (Pastor et al, 2011), jaguar (Emura, Okumura & Chen, 2013), ferret (Takemura et al, 2009), opossum (Okada & Schraufnagel, 2005) and fishing cat (Emura & Okumura, 2014). In the present study, filiform papillae had many secondary projections that emerged from the base of main papillae.…”

“…However, the lingual papillae appeared solely on the dorsal and lateral lingual surface in bears (Pastor et al, 2011). In puma, the filiform papillae on the rostral part of the lingual body were large and had a cylindrical shape, which was also reported in the rostral part of the lingual body of the fishing cat (Emura & Okumura, 2014) and the central region of the lingual body of panther (Emura et al, 2001). Additionally, these papillae were described as giant club-shaped filiform papillae on the tiger tongue (Emura et al, 2004).…”

“…In ferret (Takemura et al, 2009), these accessory processes were located adjacent to each other on the apical side of the papilla, arranged in a circular distribution. However, the secondary or accessory projections of the filiform papillae were independent of each other in puma and fishing cat (Emura & Okumura, 2014), bear (Pastor et al, 2011), jaguar (Emura et al, 2013), ferret (Takemura et al, 2009), racoon dog and fox (Emura et al, 2006). In opossum (Okada & Schraufnagel, 2005), the main body of the filiform papillae had an extreme number (12-16) of accessory processes.…”

“…In the present study, filiform papillae had many secondary projections that emerged from the base of main papillae. Similarly, filiform papillae of the fishing cat (Emura & Okumura, 2014), ferret (Takemura et al, 2009), jaguar (Emura et al, 2013), bears (Pastor et al, 2011), Japanese badgers (Yoshimura, Shindo, & Kageyama, 2009), Japanese marten (Emura, Okumura, & Chen, 2007), meerkat (Erdoğan et al, 2016), tiger (Emura et al, 2004), raccoon dog and fox (Emura, Okumura, Chen, & Shoumura, 2006) processes. In ferret (Takemura et al, 2009), these accessory processes were located adjacent to each other on the apical side of the papilla, arranged in a circular distribution.…”

Morphology of the lingual papillae in the Asian golden cat

“…Many studies have reported on the structures of the lingual surfaces of various animals. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies have been conducted on the tongues of the cat (Boshell et al, 1982), dog (Iwasaki and Sakata, 1985), mongoose (Iwasaki et al, 1987), Japanese weasel (Furubayashi et al, 1989), sea otter (Shimoda et al, 1996), bush dog (Emura et al, 2000), panther and Asian black bear (Emura et al, 2001), lion (Emura et al, 2003), tiger (Emura et al, 2004), jaguar (Emura et al, 2013), fishing cat (Emura et al, 2014), and black-backed jackal (Emura et al, 2014) belonging to the order Carnivora. Such studies have revealed variations in the morphology and distribution of papillae on the dorsal lingual surface among these species.…”