Gross Anatomical Relationships Between Primate Submandibular and Sublingual Salivary Glands

¹ Laboratory of Experimental Pathology, National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases; National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service; U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Bethesda, Maryland

The gross relationships between the submandibular and sublingual salivary glands of the rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta), squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus) and man were studied to determine the gross anatomic origins of regions in a certain gland that were used for histochemical evaluation as reported previously. There was a complete separation of submandibular and sublingual glands in both species of monkeys although small, anterior projections of each submandibular gland were present in the posterior portion of the paralingual space. On superficial examination, the sublingual gland of the rhesus monkey was a single, uniform gland. Closer inspection revealed two segments one of which was more posterior and called the greater sublingual and the other more anterior and termed the lesser sublingual.

Observations of the submandibular and sublingual glands in the human subjects revealed a considerable admixture of components. The accessory portions of the submandibular gland projected into the paralingual space for varying distances above the mylohyoid muscle and intermingled with that portion of the sublingual gland mass, if present, called the greater sublingual. The more regularly appearing portion of sublingual gland, the lesser sublingual, was further anterior in the paralingual space. Continuous salivary gland tissue was present from the submandibular region to the anterior tip of the paralingual space in individuals where there was considerable mixing of submandibular and sublingual glands.