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Cranial kinesis in lizards (Lacertilia): Origin, biomechanics, and evolution

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Abstract

Various methods of investigation of cranial kinesis are compared. The biomechanical model of the amphikinetic cranial mechanism of lizards developed by Frazzetta (1962) corresponds to the skulls of species with the dependent streptostyly. A new modification of this model is proposed for species with the independent streptostyly, which conforms to the results of experimental investigations of cranial kinesis in living lizards. The lacertilian amphikinesis has developed on the basis of the pleurokinesis inherited from fish ancestors of tetrapods. Movable connections of the maxillo-buccal segments with the axial skull persisted in the amphikinetic skull and were completed by the transversal flexible connections in the dermatocranial roof and loose connections of dermatocranium with the braincase. The development of new movable intracranial connections could have been preceded by transformations in the jaw musculature (formation of the pterygoideus muscle and inclined position of the external jaw adductor), which caused longitudinal jaw movements. Development of new movable connections within the skull was triggered by paedomorphosis processes. In various lacertilian groups, the cranial kinesis was improved by the development of various forms of streptostyly and flexipalatality.

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  1. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskii pr. 33, Moscow, 119071, Russia

    N. N. Iordansky

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  1. N. N. Iordansky
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Original Russian Text © N.N. Iordansky, 2011, published in Zoologicheskii Zhurnal, 2011, No. 8, pp. 976–986.

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Iordansky, N.N. Cranial kinesis in lizards (Lacertilia): Origin, biomechanics, and evolution. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 38, 868–877 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359011090032

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359011090032

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