The morphology of the oropharynx and tongue of the muscovy duck

The morphology of the oropharynx and tongue of the muscovy duck was studied with a view to identifying structural features that may influence nutrition, food intake and ingestion, as well as to provide a foundation for the recognition of pathology of the bird in this region. The results illustrated that the roof of the oropharyngeal cavity was formed by a cartilaginous hard palate that lacked papillae on its mucosal surface, but exhibited a prominent median longitudinal mucosal fold, the median palatine ridge. Orderly arranged rows of notches, the lamellae, formed the lateral boundaries of both the roof and floor of the oropharynx. The tongue, which was located on the floor of the oropharyngeal cavity, was characterized by a prominent dorsal median sulcus, numerous lateral brush-like horny lingual papillae and a bell-shaped dorsal surface elevation, that formed the base (caudal V) of the organ. This bell-shaped elevation may be similar to the torus linguae of ruminants. Histologically, the features of the tongue include a non-keratinized stratified squamous epithelial lining on both its dorsal and ventral surfaces, a wide connective tissue layer, containing lingual glands, blood vessels and nerves, and a core of paraglossum and associated striated muscles. In conclusion, the oropharynx and tongue of the muscovy duck exhibits certain anatomical features that are unique to this species, and the morphological modifications of this region of the digestive tract may be adaptations to the bird's habitat and mode of feeding. Key words: duck, oropharynx, tongue, papillae, lingual gland, lingual epithelium Istrazena je morfologija orofarinksa i jezika mosusne patke s ciljem da se ustanove strukture koje mogu utjecati na hranidbu, unos hrane i probavu te da pruzi temelj za prepoznavanje patoloskih promjena u tom podrucju. Rezultati su pokazali da je nepce orofaringealne supljine gracteno od hrskavicnog tvrdog nepca na cijoj sluznici nema bradavica. Ustanovljen je sredisnji uzduzni sluznicni nabor odnosno sredisnji nepcani greben. Pravilno rasporec eni zljebovi, lamele oblikovali su lateralne granice nepca i dna orofarinksa. Na jeziku, smjestenom na dnu orofaringealne supljine, nalazi se dorzalno izrazen sredisnji zlijeb s mnostvom oroznjalih lateralnih jezicnih bradavica nalik na cetku i zvonoliko dorzalno uzdignuce na bazi organa (kaudalna 1/3). To zvonoliko uzdignuce slicno je torusu jezika u prezivaca. Dorzalna i ventralna povrsina histoloski je gractena od neker