Abstract
The tongue of an adult degu was examined by light and scanning electron microscopy. It consists of an apex, corpus, and radix and contains a lingual prominence. The aim of this study was to describe the course of muscle fascicles of the proper lingual muscle, the presence and nature of the lingual salivary glands, and particularly the appearance and distribution of the lingual papillae. Three major types of papillae have been observed: filiform, conical, and vallate. The dorsal surface of the lingual apex extends in caudally bent filiform papillae with two spines. The lingual corpus bears long filiform papillae with a single tip. The lingual radix contains crown-like papillae in the region of the prominence and conical papillae in the remaining areas. Two oval vallate papillae were discovered caudally on the lingual radix. This first description of the lingual structures in a degu could be used for comparative studies or as basic data for differentiation of lingual morphology in this species.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alvarez A, Perez SI, Verzi DH (2011) Early evolutionary differentiation of morphological variation in the mandible of South American caviomorph rodents (Rodentia, Caviomorpha). J Evol Biol 24:2687–2695
Atalar O, Karan M (2011) The light and scanning electron microscopic structure of the papilla vallatae in the porcupine (Hystrix cristata). J Anim Vet Adv 10:3069–3073
Ciena AP, de Sousa Bolina C, de Almeida SR, Rici RE, de Oliveira MF, da Silva MC, Miglino MA, Watanabe IS (2013) Structural and ultrastructural features of the agouti tongue (Dasyprocta aguti Linnaeus, 1766). J Anat 223:152–158
Emura S, Tamada A, Hayakawa D, Chen H, Jamali M, Ozawa Y, Shoumura S (1999) SEM study on the dorsal lingual surface of Microtus montebelli. Okajimas Folia Anat Jpn 76:171–178
Emura S, Tamada A, Hayakawa D, Chen H, Shoumura S (2001) SEM study on the dorsal lingual surface of the nutria, Myocastor coypus. Kaibogaku zasshi 76:233–238
Emura S, Okumura T, Chen H (2011) Morphology of the lingual papillae in the Patagonian cavy. Okajimas Folia Anat Jpn 88:121–125
Gutierrez J, Bozinovic F (1998) Diet selection in captivity by a generalist herbivorous rodent (Octodon degus) from the Chilean coastal desert. J Arid Environ 39:601–607
Honeycutt RL, Rowe DL, Gallardo MH (2003) Molecular systematics of the South American caviomorph rodents: relationships among species and genera in the family Octodontidae. Mol Phylogenet Evol 26:476–489
Jackowiak H, Godynicki S (2005) The distribution and structure of the lingual papillae on the tongue of the bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus). Folia Morphol 64:326–333
Jekl V, Hauptman K, Knotek Z (2011) Diseases in pet degus: a retrospective study in 300 animals. J Small Anim Pract 52:107–112
Kilinc M, Erdogan S, Ketani S, Ketani MA (2010) Morphological study by scanning electron microscopy of the lingual papillae in the Middle East Blind Mole Rat (Spalax ehrenbergi, Nehring, 1898). Anat Histol Embryol 39:509–515
Kobayashi K, Miyata K, Takahashi K, Iwasaki S (1989) Three-dimensional architecture of the connective tissue papillae of the mouse tongue as viewed by scanning electron microscopy. Kaibogaku zasshi 64:523–538
Kobayashi S, Toh H, Tomo S (1992) Scanning electron microscopic study on the lingual papillae in the Manchurian chipmunk, Tamias sibiricus asiaticus. Okajimas Folia Anat Jpn 69:139–143
Kubota K, Togawa S (1966) Comparative anatomical and neurohistological observations on the tongue of Japanese dormouse (Glirus japonicus). Anat Rec 154:545–552
Kubota K, Fukuda N, Asakura S (1966) Comparative anatomical and neurohistological observations on the tongue of the porcupine (Hystrix cristata). Anat Rec 155:261–268
Lee TM (2004) Octodon degus: a diurnal, social, and long-lived rodent. ILAR J 45:14–24
Nagato T, Ren XZ, Toh H, Tandler B (1997) Ultrastructure of Weber’s salivary glands of the root of the tongue in the rat. Anat Rec 249:435–440
Nowak RM (1991) Walker’s mammals of the world, 5th edn. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, pp 1681–1682
Sakr SMI, Taki-El-Deen FMA, Aboelwafa HR (2013) Comparative light and scanning electron microscopic study of the lingual papillae in three different mammalian animals; Hemiechinus auritus (Erinaceomorpha: Erinaceidae), Cavia porcellus (Rodentia: Caviidae) and Mustela nivalis vulgaris (Carnivora: Mustelidae). Life Sci J—Acta Zhengzhou Univ Overseas Ed 10:3082–3093
Shindo J, Yoshimura K, Kobayashi K (2006) Comparative morphological study on the stereo-structure of the lingual papillae and their connective tissue cores of the American beaver (Castor canadensis). Okajimas Folia Anat Jpn 82:127–138
Sonntag CF (1924) The comparative anatomy of the tongues of the Mammalia X. Rodentia. In: Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. pp 725–741
Unsaldi E (2010) Macroscopic and light microscopic structure of fungiform papillae on the tongue of squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris). Kafkas Univ Vet Fak Derg 16:115–118
Watanabe I, Utiyama C, Koga LY, Motoyama AA, Kobayashi K, Lopes RA, Junior BK (1997) Scanning electron microscopy study of the interface epithelium-connective tissue surface of the lingual mucosa in Calomys callosus. Ann Anat 179:45–48
Watanabe I, Santos Haemmerle CA, Dias FJ, Cury DP, Silva MCP, Sosthines MCK, Santos TC, Guimaraes JP, Miglino MA (2013) Structural characterization of the capybara (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris) tongue by light, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy. Microsc Res Tech 76:141–155
Wolczuk K (2014) Dorsal surface of the tongue of the hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius): scanning electron and light microscopic studies. Zool Pol 59:35–47
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cizek, P., Hamouzova, P., Jekl, V. et al. Light and scanning electron microscopy of the tongue of a degu (Octodon degus). Anat Sci Int 92, 493–499 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12565-016-0346-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12565-016-0346-x