著者

Sasaki Motoki Endo Hideki Yamamoto Masako ARISHIMA Kazuyoshi HAYASHI Yoshihiro

出版者

日本哺乳類学会

雑誌

Mammal study = The Continuation of the Journal of the Mammalogical Society of Japan (ISSN:13434152)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.25, no.1, pp.27-34, 2000-06-01

被引用文献数

3 7

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The musculature and functional anatomy of the head and skull of a tiger <i>Panthera tigris</i> were, examined and compared with those of various other felid species. The <i>Musculus masseter</i> is divided into three layers. The superficial layer of which is well-developed and further sub-divided into lateral and medial components. The ventro-caudal fleshy portion of the lateral component originates behind the last upper molar, where it is attached by a strong tendon to the tubercle <i>tuber maxillae</i>. The medial component, which runs dorso-ventrally, has a particularly well-developed fleshy portion. The present anatomical study suggests that in the tiger, large masseteric forces are produced in both ventro-rostral and ventro-dorsal directions. In the tiger, a process is present on the tubercle of the maxilla from which the strong tendon originates. This process is also apparent in the leopard <i>Panthera pardus</i>, the jaguar <i>P. onca</i> and the puma <i>Felis concolor</i>. It is not found, however, in either the domestic cat <i>F. catus</i> or the Iriomote wild cat <i>F. iriomotensis</i>. Comparisons between the skulls of various species of felidae indicate that whereas the puma, the leopard and the jaguar each possess the strong tendon, which bundles the ventro-caudal fleshy portion of the lateral component, the domestic cat and the Iriomote wild cat only possess weak tendons attaching to this component.