Distribution and development of taste buds on the incisive papillae of mice and rats.

The mouse and rat have been shown to have many taste buds on the incisive papillae of the hard palate. In the rat incisive papilla, taste buds were more numerously observed than in the mouse. They were most densely distributed in both animals on the anteromedial wall of the lower part of the nasopalatine ducts. The taste buds on the mouse incisive papilla appeared at 4 or 5 days of age, and after 20 days of age the number of taste buds was almost constant. The rat taste buds also showed a tendency to continue their development after 10 weeks of age. An active role for the taste buds on the incisive papilla in the mouse and rat is suggested in that the taste buds are more numerously distributed in the nasopalatine ducts than on the oral surface.