Structure and physiological properties of the taste organs on the ventral side of frog tongue (Rana catesbeiana)

The structure and physiological properties of the non-papillarytaste organs on the ventral side of frog tongue were examined.The taste organs were distributed around the hyoglossal muscleof the tongue. The total number of organs was estimated as about100. The fine structure of the taste organs was similar to thatof the fungiform papilla. Neural responses recorded from theglossopharyngeal nerve by applying chemical stimuli to the ventraltide of the tongue were noticeably smaller than those to thedorsal side of the tongue. The taste cells on the ventral sideof the tongue generated receptor potentials to various chemicalstimuli like those on the dorsal side of the tongue.