ADAPTATION PECTJTJAB TO SOME DIPBOTODONT MABSUPIALS: 15. A Masticatory Adaptation peculiar to some Diprotodont Marsupials

Summary 1. A foramen and a canal, referred to respectively as the masseteric foramen and masseteric canal, which occur in the mandible of many of the Diprotodontia, are described, and their incidence is recorded. 2. The foramen transmits a branch of the inferior dental artery to a specialized expansion of the deep part of the masseter in the canal. 3. This masseteric development supplements the lateral pterygoid in the production of lateral movements of the jaw; it affords also increased leverage to the mandible. 4. This condition is peculiar to, but not constantly present in, the Diprotodontia.

[1]  E. Lönnberg.  On some remarkable Digestive Adaptations in Diprotodont Marsupials , 2010 .

[2]  R. Owen.  On the Osteology of the Marsupialia. , 2010 .

[3]  M. Cuvier,et al.  Mémoire sur les GERBOISES et les GERBILLES. , 2010 .

[4]  Abbie Aa,et al.  Some Observations on the Major Subdivisions of the Marsupialia: With Especial Reference to the Position of the Peramelidae and Caenolestidae. , 1937 .

[5]  H. Anderson.  The jaw musculature of the phytosaur, machaeroprosopus , 1936 .

[6]  T. Iredale,et al.  A check-list of the mammals recorded from Australia , 1934 .

[7]  Leverett Allen Adams,et al.  A MEMOIR ON THE PHYLOGENY OF THE JAW MUSCLES IN RECENT AND FOSSIL VERTEBRATES , 1918 .

[8]  Pauline H. Dederer.  Comparison of Caenolestes with Polyprotodonta and Diprotodonta , 1909, The American Naturalist.

[9]  B. Bensley.  III. On the Evolution of the Australian Marsupialia; with Remarks on the Relationships of the Marsupials in general. , 1903 .

[10]  F G Parsons,et al.  On the Anatomy of Macropus rufus. , 1897, Journal of anatomy and physiology.

[11]  Owen.  XXIII. On Hypsiprymnodon, Ramsay, a Genus indicative of a distinct Family (Pleopodidæ) in the Diprotodont Section of the Marsupialia. , 1879 .

[12]  A. Macalister.  XVI.—On the myology of the Wombat (Phascolomys wombata) and the Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus ursinus) , 1870 .

[13]  Bull,et al.  The animal kingdom , 1969 .

[14]  A. Howell.  The Saltatorial Rodent Dipodomys: The Functional and Comparative Anatomy of Its Muscular and Osseous Systems , 1932 .

[15]  R. Lydekker,et al.  An introduction to the study of mammals living and extinct , 1891 .

[16]  O. Thomas.  Catalogue of the Marsupialia and Monotremata in the collection of the British Museum (Natural History). , 1888 .

[17]  R. Owen.  On the anatomy of vertebrates ... By Richard Owen. , 1866 .