Microvascular architecture of the filiform papillae in primates and insectivores

The microvascular architecture of filiform papillae was investigated under a scanning electron microscope in man, Japanese monkeys, common squirrel monkeys, common marmosets, common tree shrews, large Japanese moles and dwarf shrews utilizing microvascular corrosion casts. Filiform papillae were circularly arranged in primates, and each of them was supplied by a hairpin capillary loop. These papillae sometimes were aggregated. The filiform papillae of Japanese monkeys exhibited markedly locational differences on the lingual dorsum and were supplied by circularly arranged capillary loops or by an intrapapillary capillary network. Small filiform papillae were located on an epithelial eminence in the lingual radix, each of them supplied by a low and simple hairpin capillary loop. The aggregated filiform papillae of common squirrel monkeys were less frequent without any locational differences. Low filiform papillae of common marmosets and tree shrews were simpler in form, being arranged in a circle and supplied by a simple hairpin capillary loop. The filiform papillae of insectivores were not arranged in a circle. The filiform papillae of dwarf shrews were supplied by an incomplete capillary ring without a loop. With respect to species differences, the circularly arranged capillary loops in man were most complicated and highly developed. Microvascular architecture of the filiform papillae of insectivores was much simpler, different from those observed in primates.