Morphological study on the tongue of prenatal goat (Capra hircus).

The study was conducted on the tongue of 18 goat foeti which were divided into three groups viz. Group I (below 50 days of gestation), Group II (50-100 days of gestation) and Group III (100 days of gestation to full term) containing 6 foeti each to record the developmental changes in the tongue and its papillae. The size and weight of tongue increased with the advancement of age. Impressions of palatine ridges were visible on the dorsal surface of apex in all the groups. The fungiform papillae were first observed on 49 th day of gestation where as circumvallate papillae without surrounding trench were evident by 69 days of gestation. The numbers of circumvallate papillae were found to be 16-17 on either side with prominent surrounding moat in the tongue of full term fetus.