Morphological, Histological and Ultrustructural Study of the Tongue in House Geecko (Hemidactylus flaviviridis) Lizard

Abstract

The aim of this study to investigate the tongue  morphology and histology in house gecko  Hemidactylus  flaviviridis   using light and scanning electron –microscopy (SEM ) technique.The morphology result revealed the presence of three parts : apex , body and lingual root .The light microscopy result showed that the tongue is covered with mucous membrane composed of  non keratinized  stratified  squamous epithelium based on lamina propria which  contain bundles of striated muscles its fibers in different directions including  connective tissue , blood vessels and nerves. The lingual mucosa of the dorsal surface is covered with different pattern of lingual papillae which are widely distributed all over the dorsal surface except the apex. Noticed on the dorsal surface different types of papillae were like fungiform, long and short folliolate, conical and cuboidal papillae. SEM examination showed that the tongue in Hemidactylus vlaviviridus appeared elongated with triangular shape and bifurcated free tip, also it is divided into three parts: apex, body and root; many types of papillae are distributed on the dorsal surface of the body and root of tongue. Fungiform papillae are widely distributed all over the dorsal surface of the tongue body .In the root of tongue, there are different types of papillae like filiform and foliate papillae , a lot of goblet cells have been showed in this region .