The Ontogeny of Masticatory Muscle Architecture in Microcebus murinus

The masticatory apparatus has been the focus of many studies in comparative anatomy—especially analyses of skulls and teeth, but also of the mandibular adductor muscles which are responsible for the production of bite force and the movements of the mandible during food processing and transport. The fiber architecture of these muscles has been correlated to specific diets (e.g., prey size in felids) and modes of foraging (e.g., tree gouging in marmosets). Despite the well-elucidated functional implications of this architecture, little is known about its ontogeny. To characterize age-related myological changes, we studied the masticatory muscles in a large (n = 33) intraspecific sample of a small, Malagasy primate, Microcebus murinus including neonatal through geriatric individuals. We removed each of the mandibular adductors and recorded its mass as well as other linear measurements. We then chemically dissected each muscle to study its architecture—fascicle length and physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA) which relate to stretch (gape) and force capabilities, respectively. We observed PCSA and muscle mass to increase rapidly and plateau in adulthood through senescence. Fascicle lengths remained relatively constant once maximal length was reached, which occurred early in life, suggesting that subsequent changes in PCSA are driven by changes in muscle mass. Quadratic curvilinear models of each of the architectural variables of all adductors combined as well as individual muscles regressed against age were all significant. Anat Rec, 303:1364–1373, 2020. © 2019 American Association for Anatomy