| Abstract: | Although the anatomy of the domestic housecat has been examined in meticulous detail, comparative observations on the anatomy of the larger wild cats is scant and information about particularities in their cranial complexes rarer still. In the course of dissecting sets of masticatory muscles in five large felids, all older zoo animals, we had the opportunity to note muscular attachments in the head and jaw apparatus that appeared significantly broader and more distal in their insertion sties than expected. Further investigation may determine whether these masticatory peculiarities are functional adaptations of felids, or instead are associated in some manner with the specialized diets large felids receive in captive environments. Zoo Biol 16:187–191, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc. |
