Sucrose octaacetate-taster mice have more vallate taste buds than non-tasters.

Taste buds were counted in two strains of mice which have been characterized in terms of their taste avoidance of the bitter-tasting substance, sucrose octaacetate (SOA). One strain (SWR/J) avoids SOA and is referred to as "taster' while the other strain (C57BL/6J) does not avoid SOA at the same concentration and is termed "non-taster'. The taster-strain contains a significantly greater number of taste buds in its vallate papillae than the non-tasters do. The relative number of taste buds which individual mice and humans possess probably contributes to the relative differences in their sensitivity and preference behaviors.