Tactile corpuscles of Grandry

Grandry corpuscles are found in high numbers in the bills of aquatic birds, such as ducks, where they are believed to play a role in feeding.[1]

The tactile corpuscles of Grandry or Grandry corpuscles are mechanoreceptors found in the beak skin and oral mucosa of aquatic birds.[2] They were first described by Grandry in 1869 in the bill skin of ducks and geese.[3] Their general structure includes the flattened endings of an afferent nerve fiber sandwiched between two or more somewhat flattened sensory cells called Grandry cells, all surrounded by a layer of satellite cells and a partial capsule of collagen protein.[2][4] Electrophysiological studies have shown that Grandry corpuscles function as rapidly adapting velocity detectors.[5] In birds, Grandry and Merkel corpuscles share many morphological similarities, which has led to some confusion in the literature over their classification (see §Grandry and Merkel corpuscles).[6]

  1. ^ Berkhoudt, H. (1979). "The Morphology and Distribution of Cutaneous Mechanoreceptors (Herbst and Grandry Corpuscles) in Bill and Tongue of the Mallard (Anas Platyrhynchos L.)". Netherlands Journal of Zoology. 30 (1): 1–34. doi:10.1163/002829680x00014. ISSN 0028-2960.
  2. ^ a b Saxod, Raymond (1978). "Development of Cutaneous Sensory Receptors Birds". Development of Sensory Systems. Handbook of Sensory Physiology. Vol. 9. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 337–417. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-66880-7_8. ISBN 978-3-642-66882-1.
  3. ^ Grandry, M (1869). "Recherches sur les corpuscules de Pacini". Journal de l'anatomie et de la physiologie normales et pathologiques de l'homme et des animaux. 6: 390–395.
  4. ^ Gray, Henry; Lewis, Warren (1918). Anatomy of the Human Body. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger. p. 1060.
  5. ^ Gottschaldt, K. -M. (1974). "The physiological basis of tactile sensibility in the beak of geese". Journal of Comparative Physiology A. 95 (1): 29–47. doi:10.1007/bf00624349. ISSN 0340-7594. S2CID 36425261.
  6. ^ Toyoshima, Kuniaki; Shimamura, Akitatsu (1991). "Ultrastructure of Merkel corpuscles in the tongue of the finch, Lonchura striata". Cell and Tissue Research. 264 (3): 427–436. doi:10.1007/bf00319033. ISSN 0302-766X. S2CID 32027683.