Quantitative microanatomy of jaw muscle attachment in extant diapsids

Muscular reconstructions in vertebrate paleontology have often relied heavily on the presence of “muscle scars” and similar osteological correlates of muscle attachment, a practice complicated by the fact that approximately half of tendinous muscle attachments to bone in extant vertebrates do not leave readily interpretable scars. Microanatomical and histological correlates of tendinous muscle attachment are much less ambiguous. This study...