Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Zoology Department, faculty of science, Al azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
2
Zoology departement, faculty of science, Azhar University
3
Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
Abstract
This study compared the macroscopic anatomical features of the tongue and its papillae between the herbivorous rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and the insectivorous hedgehog (Hemiechinus auritus). Six tongues from each species were examined under a stereomicroscope for gross morphology. The tongues' length, width, and thickness were measured in both species. In both, the dorsal surface of the tongue is divided into three areas: apex, corpus, and radix. The rabbit's tongue is medium-sized, muscular, light hazel-colored, with a rounded apex, while the hedgehog's tongue is smaller, thinner, and has a tapering apex. Both species have filiform papillae covering the dorsal surface and scattered fungiform papillae. The rabbit’s tongue features a median groove in the apex and a torus lingua in the corpus, which are absent in the hedgehog. In the radix, the rabbit has two circumvallate papillae, while the hedgehog has three in a triangular shape. Both species have foliate papillae on the tongue's lateral regions. Statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) were observed in body weight, tongue weight, relative tongue weight, tongue length, and dentition between the species. The rabbit's tongue is significantly longer, broader, and thicker than the hedgehog’s. Morphometric ratios of the tongue apex are significantly greater (P < 0.01) in the rabbit, while the tongue radix is wider and thicker in the hedgehog.
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