A functional consequence of an ossified mandibular symphysis

Bibliographic Data

ID8320570
AuthorsWalter Stalker Greaves (University of Illinois Chicago, corresponding author)
Year1988
Volume77
Issue1
Pages53-56
Publication date1988-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.1330770109
PMID3189523
OpenAlexW2015920864
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited15

According to most recent workers, the presence of fused symphyses in some mammals is explained by the common view that muscle force is transmitted better across a fused, as opposed to an unfused, mandibular symphysis. Recent theoretical work has cast doubt on the importance of fusion for simple force transmission by suggesting that force can also be transmitted efficiently across an unfused symphysis, an expectation that has since been confirmed by a number of observational studies. Perhaps the real significance of symphyseal fusion is that, in animals with upper and lower incisor tooth rows that apply large forces to relatively small resistant food items, muscle force from both sides of the head is reliably available only when the symphysis is fused. Independent movement between the two sides of the lower incisor row, permitted by a patent symphysis, allows the possibility that one side of the lower row will come into contact with the upper incisor row, dissipating all of the muscle force from that side. The dissipation of approximately half of the available jaw muscle force, allowed by a patent symphysis, cannot be ignored when attempting to explain the presence of fused symphyses if one accepts the idea that strong incisor biting is an important element in the masticatory apparatus of those primates and other mammals with fused mandibular symphyses

Biology · Bite force quotient · Incisor · Mandibular lateral incisor · Mandibular symphysis · Masticatory force · Symphysis · Anatomy · Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior · Bat Biology and Ecology Studies · Medicine · Orthodontics · Primate Behavior and Ecology

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