The Adductor Muscles of the Jaw In Some Primitive Reptiles

dotemporal may have been present, but evidence to indicate its extent and position is lacking. The muscle usually arises from the epipterygoid and nearby areas of the braincase and skull roof and inserts in the anterior parts of the fossa of the jaw. In Captorhinus the lateral wing of the pterygoid cuts across the fossa, effectively blocking it from the upper and medial parts of the skull, the areas of origin for the pseudotemporal.

Dimetrodon

The morphology of the skull of Dimetrodon closely resembles that of the primitive Haptodus (Haptodontinae, Sphenacodontidae), and "hence may be rather confidently described as that of the family as a whole" (Romer and Price, 1940:285). The major differences between the two genera are in the increased specialization of the dentition, the shortening of the lacrimal, and the development of long vertebral spines in Dimetrodon. The absence of gross differences in the areas of the skull associated with the groups of muscles wi