TY  - JOUR
A1  - Budzik, Karolina A.
A1  - Zuwala, Krystyna
A1  - Kupfer, Alexander
A1  - Gower, David J.
A1  - Wilkinson, Mark
T1  - Diverse anatomy of the tongue and taste organs in five species of caecilian (Amphibia: Gymnophiona)
JF  - Zoologischer Anzeiger = Journal of comparative zoology : morphology, systematics, biogeography
N2  - Limited previous studies on caecilian taste organs have demonstrated the presence of very few taste buds in the oral epithelium, while providing somewhat contradictory reports of their distribution within the oropharynx and across taxa. Here we report on the gross morphology of the tongue and explore the distribution, number and morphology of taste organs of five caecilian species representing five families, focusing upon variation within the group and investigating whether larvae and adults have the same type of taste organs. We find that taste buds are widespread in the oropharynx of caecilians and that they occur both in adults and larvae of a species with a biphasic life history. Thus Gymnophiona differ substantially from Batriachia, which have distinct larval and adult taste organs.
KW  - Amphibian
KW  - Number of taste organs
KW  - Sensory zone
KW  - Taste buds
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2015.04.007
SN  - 0044-5231
VL  - 257
SP  - 103
EP  - 109
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Jena
ER  -