"Estudio morfofuncional del aparato hioideo de Glyptodon cf. clavipes Owen (Cingulata: Glyptodontidae)"

Abstract

"The discovery of an exceptionally well preserved specimen of Glyptodon d. c/avipes Owen permits a morphofunctional analysis of the hyoid apparatus, The specimen was recovered from the c1iffs of the Salado River, close to General Belgrano, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The morphological modification of the apparatus apparently occurred in response to the migration of the masticatory apparatus below the neurocranium that occurred in the evolution of glyptodonts. lt is characterized by the fusion of the stylo-, epi- and ceratohyoid bones of each side into a vertical rod designated here as the sigmohyoid, which is notable also for its general robustness and the great development of the areas for muscular insertion. While other muscles are reduced, the geniohyoideus and ceratohyoideus acted antagonistically, producing powerful movernents of protraction and retraction of the tongue, respectively. The tongue would have been more important in the reworking of food in the oral cavity than in food intake."