Summary
The subepithelial blood vessels of the dorsal surface of the tongue in young kittens has been studied by scanning electron microscopy of microcorrosion casts. These vessels entwine the vallate papillae distributed in the pharyngeal part of the tongue, form hairpin loops in association with the small conical papillae along the sides and at the tip of the tongue and establish regularly distributed subpapillary conglomerations over almost its entire oral part. These conglomerations lie directly on veins. Small arterioles reach the vessels surrounding the individual subpapillary conglomerations. By contrast with the arrangement of the superficial vascular bed in the tongue of the dog and some other mammals, no anastomoses between arteries and veins were observed in the kitten between the vessels which supply and drain the subepidermal capillaries.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bradley, R.M.: Tongue topography. In: Handbook of sensory physiology. Vol. IV. (L.M. Beidler, ed.), pp. 1–30. Berlin-Heidelberg-New York: Springer-Verlag 1971
Brown, M.E.: The occurrence of arterio-venous anastomoses in the tongue of the dog. Anat. Rec. 69, 287–292 (1937)
Elliot, R.: Total distribution of taste buds on the tongue of the kitten at birth. J. comp. Neurol. 66, 361–373 (1937)
Hodde, K.C., Miodoński, A., Bakker, C., Veltman, W.A.M.: Scanning electron microscopy of microcorrosion casts with special attention on arterio-venous differences and application to the rat's cochlea. Scanning electron microscopy. Proceedings of the Workshop on Biomedical Applications, SEM and General Organ Systems. (O. Johari and P.P. Becker, eds.), pp. 477–484. Chicago, Illinois 1977
Miodoński, A., Hodde, K.C., Bakker, C.: Raster-Elektronenmikroskopie von Plastik-Korrosions-Präparaten: Morphologische Unterschiede zwischen Arterien und Venen. In: Beitr. Elektronenmikroskop. Direktabb. Oberfl. (G. Pfefferkorn, ed.), 9, 435–442 (1976)
Murakami, T.: Application of the SEM to the study of fine distribution of blood vessels. Arch. histol. jap. 32, 445–454 (1971)
Prichard, M.M.L., Daniel, P.M.: Arterio-venous anastomoses in the tongue of the dog. J. Anat. 87, 66–74 (1953)
Sonntag, C.F.: The comparative anatomy of the tongues of the mammalia. VIII. Carnivora. Proc. Zool.Soc. Lond. 129–153 (1923)
Young, J.Z.: The life of mammals. Their anatomy and physiology. 2nd edit. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1975
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This work was partly supported by a grant from the zoological Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jasiński, A., Miodoński, A. Blood vessels in the tongue of the kitten: Scanning electron microscopy of microcorrosion casts. Anat Embryol 155, 347–353 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317647
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00317647