Acta Vet. Brno 2009, 78: 193-197

https://doi.org/10.2754/avb200978020193

Complex Sensory Corpuscles in the Upper Jaw of Horsfield’s Tortoise (Testudo horsfieldii)

Marcela Buchtová1,2, Libor Páč3, Zdeněk Knotek4,5, František Tichý1

1Department of Anatomy and Histology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Czech Republic
2Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics, v.v.i., Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, Czech Republic
3Department of Anatomy, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
4Avian and Exotic Animal Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno, Czech Republic
5Klinik für Geflügel, Ziervögel, Reptilien und Fische, Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien, Austria

Received December 10, 2007
Accepted April 6, 2009

The sensory corpuscles of Testudo horsfieldii in the skin of the upper lip and face were studied with light and electron microscopy. The sensory corpuscles were situated under epidermis; in the corium and also between the upper jaw bone tissues in the rostral part of oral cavity. The skin sensory corpuscles with a ramified inner core were grouped in clusters. Within the corpuscle there were several simple inner cores embedded within a common superficial capsule. The complex corpuscles have a novel structure in comparison to what has been described for sensory nerve endings in turtle. The complex sensory corpuscles probably function as mechanoreceptors important for monitoring the movement of the keratinized ridges and the most rostral part of the upper jaw, the rhamphotheci.

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