Morphology of the lingual papillae in the Asian golden cat.

We microscopically examined the dorsal lingual surface of an adult Asian golden cat (Catopuma temminckii). The papillae on the margin of the lingual apex were horny-shaped and fungiform. The filiform papillae on the anterior part of the lingual body were large and cylindrical; the connective tissue core of each of these comprised a large conical papilla. The filiform papillae on the central part of the lingual body were large and conical-shaped on the medial side and dome-shaped on the lateral side. The connective tissue core of each medial filiform papilla comprised a large main process and some secondary processes, while processes were absent on the lateral side. These findings are peculiar to the tongue of members of the family Felidae.