Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Darrin Hulsey C
PROVIDER: S-EPMC1560081 | biostudies-other | 2006 Mar
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
Proceedings. Biological sciences 20060301 1587
The pharyngeal jaw of cichlids may represent a key innovation that facilitated their unparalleled trophic divergence. In cichlids, 'fusion' of the lower pharyngeal jaw (LPJ) results from suturing between the two lower ceratobranchials. To examine, what novel abilities a more extensively fused pharyngeal jaw may confer, the function of LPJ suturing was examined in Heroine cichlids. Greater LPJ suturing, pharyngeal jaw splitting under compression and the forces used to crush molluscs in the wild s ...[more]