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Timing of Facial Suture Closure is Delayed in Gouging vs. Non‐Gouging Marmosets
Author(s) -
Burrows Anne,
Smith Timothy,
Durham Emily,
Bonar Christopher,
Vinyard Christopher
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.867.5
Subject(s) - closure (psychology) , fibrous joint , medicine , anatomy , political science , law
Open sutures are better at modulating forces among calvarial bones than closed sutures. Variations in diet have also been associated with differences in timing of closure in calvarial sutures. Less is known about the midface and its sutures. Marmosets and tamarins are primates that include tree gums in their diet. Marmosets get gums by gouging trees with their incisors while tamarins get them at sites that are already exuding. These species are an opportunity to explore potential adaptions of facial sutures to differing functional demands of dietary acquisition. The present study assesses fusion in 3 facial sutures: the interpremaxillary (IP), midpalatal (MP), and maxillopremaxillary (MPr) sutures. Heads from age‐matched cadavers (4 non‐gouging tamarins and 7 gouging marmosets) were micro‐CT scanned and every 2nd slice was visualized. Sutures were rated as “open” or “fused” if there was any evidence of osseous bridging. Results showed that 46% of the slices in the IP suture were open in gougers vs. 17% in non‐gougers, 44% of the slices in the MP suture were open in gougers vs. 11% in non‐gougers, and 35% of the slices in the MPr suture were open vs. 30% in the non‐gougers. While these data are preliminary there is a clear bias in the gouging marmosets toward facial sutures remaining open which may indicate that timing of their closure is impacted by gouging.