Premium
Brief communication: Noninvasive measuring of operational tongue length in callitrichids
Author(s) -
Heymann Eckhard W.,
von der Lage Foelke
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.21038
Subject(s) - callitrichidae , tongue , mandible (arthropod mouthpart) , biology , anatomy , flexibility (engineering) , orthodontics , zoology , evolutionary biology , genus , ecology , medicine , mathematics , callithrix , pathology , statistics , primate
Callitrichids use their tongue in various social, ecological, and hygienic contexts. Using a noninvasive measuring device, we obtained data on the operational tongue length (OTL) in seven species from the family Callitrichidae. OTL (defined as the maximum tongue extension into the device) varied significantly between species and the width of the device, but did not correlate with mandible length; it is smaller in relation to mandible length in Leontopithecus chrysomelas compared to species from the genera Saguinus and Callithrix . Current information does not allow concluding which of the various functions of the tongue is selecting for tongue length. Am J Phys Anthropol 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.