Macroscopic and light microscopic structure of taste buds in squirrels

This study was carried out to examine macroscopic and light microscopic structure of gustatory papillae in squirrels. In this study, 10 tree squirrels were used.Macroscopically, squirrel tongue was relatively long and narrow. The tongue was about 2.77 cm long and 0.75 cm wide.There were two types of taste papillae in squirrel tongue. These were papillae fungiformes and papillae vallatae.It was observed that fungiform papillae were distributed among the filiform papillae, being fungus-shaped protuberances on the surface of the tongue. The number of fungiform papillae was reported to be 310 on anterior part of the tongue. On the posterior part, 53 fungiform papillae were observed.Papillae fungiformes were covered with a strafied squamous epithelium and on the outer of it?s there were keratine lamellae. An intraepitelial taste bud (Caliculus gustatorius) was located in the middle of the top of the papillae and this taste bud was connected to mouth cavity with a taste pore.In squirrel, at the posterior part of the tongue, between the body and the root, it was observed 3 vallatae papillae surrounded by a deep ditch. These three papillae were positioned in the shape of ?. Such that; The one in the middle was located at the back of the other two.Papillae vallatae were covered with a strafied squamous epithelium. Taste buds were located intraepitelially only on the inside wall and on the bottom-half of the ditch. And they were generally counted to be only 4 on the each wall. In totally, it was counted 278 taste buds in vallata papilla. Ditch wall surface area was calculated to be 0.58 mm².Macroscopically, it was determined mucosa crimpts that they consist of 12 laminae on the each posterolateral edge but it wasn?t found any findings about taste papillae at the light microscopic observations.Key words: Squirrel, Gustatory papillae, Light Microscopy.