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Mammalian Evolutionary Morphology pp 347–360Cite as

Epitensoric Position of the Chorda Tympani in Anthropoidea: a New Synapomorphic Character, with Remarks on the Fissura Glaseri in Primates

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Part of the book series: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series ((VERT))

As is well known from human anatomy, the chorda tympani detaches from the facial nerve before its exit from the stylomastoid foramen; recurving around the hyoid it enters the tympanic cavity via a small foramen in the facial canal (canaliculus chordae tympani). Then, embedded in an epithelial fold, it passes between the crus longum of the incus and the malleus across the tendon of the tensor tympani muscle. Anteriorly, it is situated at the medial side of the anterior process of the malleus (Folianus) before it exits from the tympanic cavity through the petrotympanic fissure or fissura Glaseri (cf. Warwick and Williams, 1973, figure 286; Henson, 1974, figure 21A; and many other textbooks of human anatomy). The anterior process consists in fact of a small dermal bone called the gonial in the German anatomical literature (Gaupp, 1908, 1911, 1913), which is synonymous with the prearticular of vertebrate paleontology and English comparative anatomy (Williston, 1903; De Beer, 1937).

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  1. Lehrstuhl Spezielle Zoologie, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 28, D-72076, Tübingen, Germany

    Wolfgang Maier

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  1. Department of Anthropology Peabody Museum of Natural History, Division of Vertebrate Zoology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Eric J. Sargis

  2. Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Feinberg School of Medicine Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Marian Dagosto

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Maier, W. (2008). Epitensoric Position of the Chorda Tympani in Anthropoidea: a New Synapomorphic Character, with Remarks on the Fissura Glaseri in Primates. In: Sargis, E.J., Dagosto, M. (eds) Mammalian Evolutionary Morphology. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6997-0_15

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