title: The head and neck muscles of the serval and tiger: homologies, evolution, and proposal of a mammalian and a veterinary muscle ontology.
abstract: Here we describe the head and neck muscles of members of the two extant felid subfamilies (Leptailurus serval: Felinae; Panthera tigris: Pantherinae) and compare these muscles with those of other felids, other carnivorans (e.g., domestic dogs), other eutherian mammals (e.g., rats, tree-shrews and modern humans), and noneutherian mammals including monotremes. Another major goal of the article is to discuss and help clarify nomenclatural discrepancies found in the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria and in veterinary atlases and textbooks that use cats and dogs as models to understand the anatomy of domestic mammals and to stress differences with modern humans. We propose a unifying nomenclature that is expanded to all the head and neck muscles and to all mammalian taxa in order to help build veterinary and mammalian muscle ontologies. Our observations and comparisons and the specific use of this nomenclature point out that felids such as tigers and servals and other carnivorans such as dogs have more facial muscle structures related to the mobility of both the auricular and orbital regions than numerous other mammals, including modern humans, which might be the result of an ancient adaptation related to the remarkable predatory capacities of carnivorans. Interestingly, the skeletal differences, mainly concerning the hyoid apparatus, pharynx, and larynx, that are likely associated with the different types of vocalizations seen in the Felinae (mainly purring) and Pantherinae (mainly roaring) are not accompanied by clear differences in the musculature connected to these structures in the feline L. serval and the pantherine P. tigris.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA. rui.diogo@howard.edu
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Diogo
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pastor
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: De Paz
authors.forename: Josep M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Potau
authors.forename: Gaëlle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bello-Hellegouarch
authors.forename: Eva M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Ferrero
authors.forename: Rebecca E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Fisher
mesh_terms: D000716:Anatomy, Artistic; D000818:Animals; D001271:Atlases as Topic; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004210:Dissection; D005152:Facial Muscles / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D045989:Felidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification; D005260:Female; D006257:Head / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D007821:Laryngeal Muscles / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D009334:Neck Muscles / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D010609:Pharyngeal Muscles / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D013045:Species Specificity; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D046010:Tigers / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification