ArticleJournal of anatomy2025
How is the third jaw joint in whales different? Diverse modes of articulation between the jaws of whales.
Article in Journal of anatomy, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Toothed whales independently evolve specialized suction feeding without converging on skull shape.PeerJ · 2026Article
- How is the third jaw joint in whales different? Diverse modes of articulation between the jaws of whales.Journal of anatomy · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
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Abstract
Cetaceans are a lineage of marine mammals that evolved diverse modes of aquatic feeding facilitated by modifications to the ancestral mammalian feeding apparatus, including the mandibular symphysis. In mammals, the mandibular symphysis is the third joint of the lower jaw. Articulation of the joint varies across mammalian clades, ranging from fibrocartilaginous connection to complete ossification. Whales span this range, with one lineage (baleen whales) evolving an unfused, highly mobile symphysis. This study conducts a comprehensive morphological investigation of the mandibular symphysis in whales. Here, we describe diverse joint morphologies based on observations of 152 cetacean mandibles representing 74 extant and fossil taxa. We also examine the internal architecture of the joint using computed tomography (CT) cross-sectional data. Based on gross anatomical observations of the osteology of the joint, we define four broad categories of symphyses: unfused, partially fused, fully fused, and decoupled. In odontocetes, articulation ranges from unfused mandibles to full fusion of the symphysis. The decoupled, highly mobile symphysis in crown mysticetes represents a novel condition unobserved in other mammalian clades. Partial fusion of the symphysis is the most common mode of articulation among the observed extant taxa, closely followed by unfused symphyses. In extant and extinct longirostrine taxa, full fusion coincides with an elongated symphysis. However, extant sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) notably exhibit an elongated, unfused symphysis that likely does not play a significant role in feeding. Observations of eminences on the posterior border of the symphysis in sperm whales and other suction feeders suggest that aspects of hyolingual musculature and function may be reflected in the morphology of symphysis. We suggest that further investigation of the symphyseal joint in marine mammals and other aquatic tetrapods will advance efforts to identify phylogenetic and ecological influences on the form and function of the feeding apparatus in an aquatic environment.
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