The purpose of this study was to explore the morphologi- cal characteristics of developing lentiform papilla (LP) in Korean native goats by scanning electron microscopy (SAM). Tongues were removed from fetuses on days 90, 120, neonates, and juveniles on days 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180. In prenatal development, the primordia of LP in 90-day-old fetuses were round and spotted on the inner most part of the torus linguae of the tongue. Primordia of LP in 120-day-old fetuses also had a lens-like shape. In neonates, LP displayed similar features as the adult one. In postnatal juveniles on days 30 and 60, LP continually increased in size without much difference in structure compared to that of neonates. By postnatal day 90, detached pieces of keratinized super- ficial epithelia were observed. Microridges and microplicae were well developed on the epithelial surface of LP in 60- to 120-day-old goats. The lengths of LP were 476~514 μm in neonates, 687~962 μm in the weaning period of 60-day- old goats, and 1,068~1,567 μm in the maturing period of 180-day-old goats. These findings indicate that goat LP has different sizes and shapes from those of other species during development.

• Gyuhyen Cho(Research Institute of Life Science & Department of Veterinary Medicine, Gyeongsang National University)
• Munki Kim(Research Institute of Life Science & Department of Veterinary Medicine, Gyeongsang National University)
• Gonsup Kim(Research Institute of Life Science & Department of Veterinary Medicine, Gyeongsang National University)
• Chongsup Kim(Research Institute of Life Science & Department of Veterinary Medicine, Gyeongsang National University)
• Chungkil Won(Research Institute of Life Science & Department of Veterinary Medicine, Gyeongsang National University) Corresponding Author