The tongue has several papillae that contain taste buds and help with the functions of prehension, mastication, and deglutition of food. There are four main types of papillae - filiform, fungiform, foliate, and circumvallate. Filiform papillae are slender and thread-like, providing a rough surface. Fungiform papillae are mushroom-shaped and contain sparse to abundant taste buds. Foliate papillae are leaf-like folds containing taste buds. Circumvallate papillae are large and flattened, located at the back of the tongue, and contain numerous taste buds and serous glands. The root of the tongue attaches to

1. Tongue and its Papillae
M.FARAN YOUSAF
KBCMA College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Narowal

2. Outline:
• Introduction
• Anatomical Overview
• Papillae
• Taste Buds
• Special Tongue Structures
• References

3. Introduction:
• Muscular Organ covered with mucosa.
• Physiologically helps in Prehension, mastication, and deglutition of
food.
• Muscles are oriented in all directions allowing a high level of
mobility.
• Stratified Squamous Epithelium
Dorsal: Keratinized
Ventral: Non Keratinized

4. Anatomical Overview:
• Skeletal muscle
• Present on the floor of the mouth and extends into the
oropharynx.
• It has 3 main parts:
Apex
Body
Root

5. Anatomical Overview:
• The root is attached to the hyoid bone, soft palate, and pharynx.
• The body of the tongue is joined to the oral floor by a mucosal
fold(frenulum).
• The apex or tip is free, spatula-shaped.
• Median sulcus
• Sulcus terminalis

7. Histological features:
 The epithelium is stratified squamous.
• Dorsally it is keratinized and thick.
• Dorsal surface is irregular and rough.
• Ventrally it is non keratinized and thin.
• Ventral surface is smooth with typical lining mucosa.

8. Papillae:
• Small elevations or projections on dorsal surface
• Present on two third of anterior surface
• Posterior Portion has lingual tonsils
• Show partial keratinization

9. Types:
Four main types are present:
• Filiform
• Fungiform
• Foliate
• Circumvallate

10. Filiform Papillae:
• Slender, thread like
• Most numerous
• Highly keratinized with thick corneum giving gray appearance
• Mechanical papillae(don’t have taste buds)
• They provide rough surface that facilitates movement of food
during chewing.

11. Ruminants:
A keratinized cone projects
above the surface and the
connective tissue core has
several secondary papillae.
Felines:
Cats have large papillae with two
prominences of unequal
size .The caudal prominence is
especially larger.

12. Fungiform Papillae:
• Less numerous, lightly keratinized.
• Mushroom shaped.
• Have taste buds on upper surface
• more prevalent in the anterior region of the tongue.
• The taste buds are sparse in these papillae in
the tongues of horses and cattle, more numerous in those of sheep
and pigs, and abundant in those of carnivores and goats.

14. Foliate Papillae:
• Leaf like papillae
• parallel folds of the mucosa located on the margin of the tongue
anterior to the sulcus terminalis.
• Rudimentary in humans.
• Taste buds present on lateral sides.

16. Circumvallate papillae:
• Located on the dorsum of the tongue just rostral to the root.
• Large, flattened structures completely.
• They are largest papillae with diameter of 1-3 mm.
• About 8-12 are located in posterior region of tongue.
• Numerous excretory ducts from underlying serous (von Ebner’s) glands,
located in the connective tissue, empty into the base.

18. • Conical Papillae:
Occur on the root of the tongue in dogs,cats and pigs, and on the
torus linguae of ruminants.
In pigs, the conical papillae are called tonsillar papillae, because
they contain a core of lymphatic tissue and collectively constitute
the lingual tonsil.
They are larger than the filiform papillae and usually are not highly
keratinized

19. • Lenticular Papillae:
flattened, lens-shaped projections that are found on the torus linguae of
ruminants. They are covered by keratinized stratified squamous
epithelium and have a core of dense irregular connective tissue.

20. Taste Buds:
• Ellipsoid clusters of specialized cells embedded in epithelium.
• Fungiform, Vallate, and Foliate papillae has taste buds.
• The taste bud consists of a cluster of spindle-shaped epithelial
cells that extend from the basement membrane to a small
opening, the taste pore at the epithelial surface.

21. Taste Buds:
 3 types of cells are present in taste buds.
Supporting or sustentacular cells:
• Elongated cells
• Less numerous & not sensory
Gustatory cells:
• Elongated taste cells
• Extends from base to taste pore
• Their bases form synapses with afferent axons.
Basal Cells:
• Present at the base of each taste bud.
• They are undifferentiated & serve as stem cells.

24. Special Lingual Structures
Lyssa:
• Cordlike structure enclosed in a dense irregular connective tissue
capsule and extends longitudinally, in the midline, near the ventral
surface of the apex of the tongue.
• Present in cats dogs and pigs
Torus Linguae:
The ruminant tongue has a large prominence, the torus linguae,
covering the caudal portion of the dorsum and characterized by a
thickened mucosa.

26. References:
 Junqueria Basic Histology 14th Ed.
 Color Atlas of Veterinary Histology.
 Dellman’s Text Book of Veterinary Histology.
 Comparative Veterinary Histology with clinical correlates
 Google Images.

27. Any questions?