To define the anatomical background of the neuromuscular controlling mechanism of the bat jaw movement, the muscle lamination and muscle spindle supply of the masticatory muscles were examined by a light microscopy of the frontal and horizontal serial celloidin sections (25 μm thick) stained with hematoxylin-eosin, in the insect-eating bats (5 species), blood-sucking bat and fruit-eating bat.The results obtained are as follows:
1. The M. temporalis of each species except in the
Miniopterus fuliginosus (430) contained more than 76% of the total spindles.
2. The M. masseter contained from 7% to 18% of the total spindles, except in the
Miniopterus fuliginosus (420) and the
Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (none) .
3. The M. zygomatico-mandibularis contained from 4% to 16% of the total spindles, with the exception of the
Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (none) .
4. The M. pterygoideus lateralis was devoid of spindles and was divided into the upper and lower heads, the former inserting into the articular disc and the latter into the condylar neck.
5. The M. pterygoideus medialis contained 2% of the total spindles in the
Rhinolophus cornutus and
Miniopterus fuliginosus and 10% in the fruit-eating bat. No spindles were seen in the other species.
6. The jaw-opening muscles were devoid of spindles.
In the distribution pattern of the muscle spindles,
Miniopterus fuliginosus was similar to the rodents and the other bats to the carnivores. It can be summarized that the muscle spindles of the vertical portion of the temporal muscle play a principal role in controlling the jaw movement in the feeding behavior of the bat.
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