Hearing research
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The morphology of the basilar papilla of the bobtail lizard was investigated with standard light- and scanning-electron-microscopical methods. The papilla can be subdivided into two parts: a small apical segment which is rather uniform in structure and a long basal segment which displays various systematic changes along its length, for example in the density of the hair cells, the height and shape of the hair-cell stereovillar bundles, the number of stereovilli per bundle and the size of the tectorial structure. ⋯ Both tectorial structures are probably sensitive to changes in their ionic environment. The possible functional implications of the papillar morphology described here are discussed with respect to a model of frequency tuning in the bobtail lizard.