 Recent evidence supports both mechanisms, and also the possibility that both are part of a single mechanism.The term tanycyte was coined by Horstmann in 1954 when he described a distinct structural feature of the cell, which is a single, long basal process that projects to a distinct region of the hypothalamus.During the 1970s and 1980s, tanycytes were the subject of many research publications, ranging from their morphology to function.