[Functional morphology of the maxillo-mandibular apparatus in the mini-Lewe minipig. 5. Structural and functional changes of the masticatory muscles and their dry weight development]

Abstract

The basic pinnate structures caused by Sehnenspiegel in the jaw muscles are already present in newborn animals. The functional changes in the jaw muscles are described in terms of an analysis of force components based on the dry weights of the individual muscles involved in chewing action. Although the protractive and retractive components are relatively large in newborn pigs, the adductive components predominate clearly in adult animals. The development of the jaw muscles in terms of dry weight shows that the masseter muscle predominates at all ages. The miniature pig MINI-LEWE is assigned to the herbivorous type on the basis of the dry weight distribution.