Jaw Musculature of the Picini (Aves: Piciformes: Picidae)

[摘要] The Picini tribe comprises 25 Old World woodpecker species grouped into seven genera that are widely distributed in Asia and include several representatives from the Eurasian region. Given the absence of detailed anatomical studies of Picini in the literature, the purposes of this study were to describe the jaw musculature of 14 species of Picini in detail and to compare the musculature patterns of these species. The results of this analysis indicate the following: (1) there is a clear association between theventralis lateralisanddorsalis lateralismuscles through fleshy fibers that are connected in all species, (2) the jaw musculature of the genusPicusdiffers from that of other Picini genera in terms of the poor development of the protractor muscle system of the quadrate (M. protractor quadratiandM. protractor pterygoidei), (3) generally, theM. pseudotemporalis superficialisoriginates in the ventrocaudal region of the laterosphenoid (the lower part of the orbit), with the only noteworthy exception being an origin in the upper part of the orbit inDinopium javanense, and (4) theprotractor pterygoideimuscle is more developed inBlythipicus rubiginosus, Dinopium rafflesii,andD. javanensethan in the other species.

[学科分类] 动物科学