Innervation pattern in jaw muscles of various mammalian chewing types.

Abstract

The intramuscular nerve branches of the masticatory muscles were investigated in different mammalian species such as Canis familiaris, Capreolus capreolus, Capra hircus africans, Bos primigenius forma taurus, Myocastor coypus MOLINA 1782, Sus scrofa domestica, Pan troglodytes, Homo sapiens. The ramifications of the nerves form a specific pattern that is adapted to the specialised muscle structures in all mammalian chewing type. The innervation pattern is fully consistent with the infrastructures of the muscles which are already fixed at birth. Differences between the ramification pattern in comparable muscles in different chewing types are only minor, not fundamental.