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Morphological analysis of tendinous structure in the American alligator jaw muscles
Author(s) -
Shimada Kazuyuki,
Sato I.,
Ezure H.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of morphology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.652
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1097-4687
pISSN - 0362-2525
DOI - 10.1002/jmor.1052170206
Subject(s) - anatomy , adductor muscles , lamina , tendon , biology , masticatory force , alligator , orthodontics , medicine , paleontology
Abstract In the American alligator, the jaw muscles show seven bundles of tendinous structure: cranial adductor tendon, mandibular adductor tendon, lamina anterior inferior, trap‐shaped lamina lateralis, lamina intramandibularis, lamina posterior, and depressor mandibular tendon (originating from the musculus depressor mandibulae, m. pseudotemporalis, m. adductor mandibulae posterior, m. adductor mandibulae externus, m. intramandibularis, m. pterygoideus anterior, and m. pterygoideus posterior). These tendinous structures are composed of many collagen fibrils and elastic fibers; however, the distributions and sizes of the fibers in these tendinous components differ in comparison with those of other masticatory muscles. The differences of these properties reflect the kinetic forces or the stretch applied to each tendon by the muscle during jaw movements in spite of the simple tendon‐muscle junctions. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.