{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T04:31:35Z","timestamp":1787027495833,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"21","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,26]],"date-time":"2023-10-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1698278400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The present study used light and scanning electron microscopy to describe the integrative morphological description of the tongue and laryngeal mound of Heremites vittatus, an endemic lizard of Saharan Africa. Additionally, ultrastructure, histology, histochemistry, and immunohistochemical approaches were used to characterize the lingual apparatus adaptations. In the present study, Heremites vittatus consisted of a complex lingual papillary system in which the ventral apical surface of the foretongue comprised conical papillae. The dorsal surface consisted of different filiform papillary (papillae filiformes) types: the anterior section had two types (bifid and pointed), and the posterior section had four types (triangular, trifid, quadrifid, and pentafid) papillae. The dorsal midtongue surface exhibits scale-like, serrated filiform papillae with anterior gland openings. The hindtongue consisted of two overlapping filiform papillae: scale-like, board-serrated papillae on the median portion and finger-like papillae on the wings. The dorsal surface of the laryngeal mound had 18 longitudinal folds with glandular openings. Histologically, the foretongue was covered by a slightly keratinized layer that was absent in the mid- and hindtongue. The lingual glands were absent from the foretongue but present in the interpapillary space in the mid- and hindtongues. We observed a few rounded taste buds in the conical papilla epithelium. Histochemical analysis revealed strong glandular Alcian Blue (AB)-positive and Periodic Acid\u2013Schiff (PAS)-positive reactions. Immunohistochemistry showed strong cytokeratin immunopositivity in all parts of the tongue. In conclusion, the obtained data about the lingual characterizations have been consistent with the active foraging behavior of the species and its environmental conditions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani13213336","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,27]],"date-time":"2023-10-27T09:56:36Z","timestamp":1698400596000},"page":"3336","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["Tongue of the Egyptian Endemic Bridled Skink (Heremites vittatus; Olivier, 1804): Gross, Electron Microscopy, Histochemistry, and Immunohistochemical Analysis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6516-2148","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ramadan M.","family":"Kandyel","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta 31527, Egypt"},{"name":"Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Najran University, Najran 61441, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6929-675X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Om Prakash","family":"Choudhary","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Anatomy, College of Veterinary Science, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Rampura Phul, Bathinda 151103, Punjab, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6858-3236","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sahar H.","family":"El-Nagar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Wealth Development, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafr El-Sheikh 33516, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Donald B.","family":"Miles","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio Center for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3289-1982","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mohamed","family":"Abumandour","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21321, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"768","DOI":"10.1242\/jeb.026617","article-title":"Locomotor\u2013feeding coupling during prey capture in a lizard (Gerrhosaurus major): Effects of prehension mode","volume":"6","author":"Montuelle","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. 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