Capsular process
Appearance
![Rodent mandible, seen from the left, with a small process at the back circled.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Oryzomys_palustris_mandible_caps.png)
In rodents, the capsular process or projection is a bony capsule that contains the root of the lower incisor. It is visible on the labial (outer) side of the mandible (lower jaw) as a raising in the bone.[2] There is marked variation within species in the development of this process.[3]
Most oryzomyines have a well-developed capsular process, which is usually located behind the coronoid process, but many have a small one, and some lack the structure entirely.[4] Phyllotines and akodontines are also variable in their development of a capsular process.[5]
References
[edit]Literature cited
[edit]- Steppan, S.J. 1995. Revision of the tribe Phyllotini (Rodentia: Sigmodontinae), with a phylogenetic hypothesis for the Sigmodontinae. Fieldiana Zoology 80:1–112.
- Weksler, M. 2006. Phylogenetic relationships of oryzomyine rodents (Muroidea: Sigmodontinae): separate and combined analyses of morphological and molecular data. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 296:1–149.