llewelly

llewelly, 10 hours ago

@timhutton @simon @futurebird
I think fusion of both sides of the mandibles is the norm in tetrapods generally, but there are a number of notable exceptions, particularly baleen whales, and snakes, which for somewhat different reasons have a highly stretchy muscle there, which allows the two sides to spread very far apart, and yet be able to pull them back together when needed. Then there's Ornithischians and their predentary bone, but I've run out of room.