A description of the times of appearance and regression of marginal lingual papillae in human fetuses and newborns

Abstract Papillae, located along the anterolateral margin of the human tongue, were observed in fetal and newborn stages. The papillae appeared in the prenatal period and attained maximum development in the newborn. They had almost disappeared by the time of weaning. Although morphologically, the pa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Anatomical Record
Main Authors: Yamasaki, Fusao, Takahashi, Kyozo
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 1982
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ar.1092040211
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Far.1092040211
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ar.1092040211
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Summary:Abstract Papillae, located along the anterolateral margin of the human tongue, were observed in fetal and newborn stages. The papillae appeared in the prenatal period and attained maximum development in the newborn. They had almost disappeared by the time of weaning. Although morphologically, the papillae may be considered to be a form of the filiform papillae, they differed from the filiform papillae in that they were temporary, localized at the anterolateral margin of the tongue, and larger in size. These papillae are homologous with those in certain land mammals and toothed whales, and may assist in sucking. Our findings on the times of appearance and regression of marginal papillae support this notion.