Complex sensory corpuscles in the upper jaw of horsfield's tortoise (Testudo horsfieldii).

摘要

The sensory corpuscles of Testudo horsfieldii in the skin of the upper lip and face were studied using light and electron microscopy. The sensory corpuscles were situated under the epidermis in the corium and also between the tissues of the upper jaw bone in the rostral part of the oral cavity. The skin sensory corpuscles with a ramified inner core were grouped into clusters. There were several 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.