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Massoud D, AbdRabou MA, Fouda M, Shaldoum F, Alrashdi BM, Germoush MO, Alfassam HE, Al-Otaibi AM, Soliman SA, Abd-Elhafeez HH, Hassan M, Mahmoud AM. Tongue microarchitecture and functional characterization of the lingual papillae in the desert hedgehog (Paraechinus aethiopicus). JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY. PART A, ECOLOGICAL AND INTEGRATIVE PHYSIOLOGY 2024; 341:151-162. [PMID: 38078554 DOI: 10.1002/jez.2770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2023] [Revised: 11/18/2023] [Accepted: 11/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2024]
Abstract
The present work attempted to provide a comprehensive description of the morphoanatomical, histological, and ultrastructural characteristics of the tongue in the desert hedgehog (Paraechinus aethiopicus), and to correlate lingual modifications to the feeding lifestyle. Five adult male hedgehogs were utilized in our investigation. The macroscopic observations revealed elongated, with a moderately pointed apex, tongue and the tongue dorsum lacks both lingual prominence and median sulcus. The main subdivisions of the tongue are radix linguae (root), corpus linguae (body), and apex linguae (apex). The tongue dorsum carries two types of mechanical (conical and filiform) and gustatory (fungiform and circumvallate) papillae. The lingual apex is characterized by the existence of a unique encapsulated muscular structure. Additionally, the lingual glands were interposed between the muscular strands and no lingual glands were detected on the lingual apex. The dorsal surface of the lingual apex exhibited the highest level of keratinization as revealed by histochemical staining while the root showed moderate staining. The topography of the tongue was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The obtained results are important to provide basic knowledge that can contribute to better understanding of the nourishment, feeding habits and behavior in this species. Furthermore, the addition of the newly investigated species may help us to determine the evolutionary relationships among species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diaa Massoud
- Department of Biology, College of Science, Jouf University, Sakaka, Al-Jouf, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mervat A AbdRabou
- Department of Biology, College of Science, Jouf University, Sakaka, Al-Jouf, Saudi Arabia
| | - Maged Fouda
- Department of Biology, College of Science, Jouf University, Sakaka, Al-Jouf, Saudi Arabia
| | - Fayez Shaldoum
- Department of Biology, College of Science, Jouf University, Sakaka, Al-Jouf, Saudi Arabia
| | - Barakat M Alrashdi
- Department of Biology, College of Science, Jouf University, Sakaka, Al-Jouf, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mousa O Germoush
- Department of Biology, College of Science, Jouf University, Sakaka, Al-Jouf, Saudi Arabia
| | - Haifa E Alfassam
- Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Aljohara M Al-Otaibi
- Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Soha A Soliman
- Department of Histology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt
| | - Hanan H Abd-Elhafeez
- Department of Cell and Tissues, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt
| | - Mervat Hassan
- Department of Theriogenology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, New Valley University, Elkharga, Egypt
| | - Ayman M Mahmoud
- Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
- Physiology Division, Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, Egypt
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