Although much attention has been paid in the literature to the morphology of the tongue in various animal species, including some Felidae, it has not yet been described in detail in the vulnerable Neofelis nebulosa and Panthera leo bleyenberghi and the last concern Lynx lynx and Otocolobus manul. Therefore, the present study aimed to characterize the features of the tongue surface, lingual glands and lyssa in the above-mentioned four selected wild species of the Pantherinae and Felinae subfamilies. Macroscopic, histological, histochemical and ultrastructural analyzes were used in the present work. Comparative analyzes of the dorsal tongue surface showed the presence of mechanical lingual papillae on five subtypes of filiform papillae on the apex and body and conical papillae on the root of the tongue. Gustatory papillae in the four analyzed species were fungiform papillae and various numbers of vallate papillae. Foliate papillae were absent in P. leo bleyenberghi and L. lynx, while delicate smooth folds, which were separated by parallel grooves but without taste buds, were present in N. nebulosa. The vallate and foliate papillae were accompanied by lingual glands, which produced a serous secretion, whereas the mixed lingual glands of the lingual root were with a predominance of mucus secretions comparable to four captive Felidae species. In the median plane on the ventral surface of the apex under its epithelium and within the muscle fibers, the lyssa was also observed to a varying degree, with the least developed, and thought about the size of the entire tongue, was in P. leo bleyenberghi. The lyssa structure in the four species was dominated by adipose tissue. The obtained results contribute knowledge concerning the functional anatomy of the tongue in four selected Felidae species, especially in terms of comparative anatomy.

Department of Anatomy Histology and Embryology Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Veterinary Sciences Brno Palackého tř 1946 1 612 42 Brno Czech Republic

Department of Morphological Sciences Institute of Veterinary Medicine Warsaw University of Life Sciences Nowoursynowska 159 02 787 Warsaw Poland

Department of Physiology Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Veterinary Sciences Brno Palackého tř 1946 1 612 42 Brno Czech Republic

Division of Animal Anatomy Department of Biostructure and Animal Physiology Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences Kozuchowska 1 51 631 Wroclaw Poland

Division of Histology and Embryology Department of Biostructure and Animal Physiology Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences Norwida 25 50 635 Wroclaw Poland

Ljubljana Zoo Večna Pot 70 1000 Ljubljana Slovenia

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