Abstract
The distinctive features of the jaw apparatus in chameleons (hyperstreptostyly, amphikinetism reduction, transformation of the cranial roof into a “casque,” the jugo-mandibular ligament, the shape and position of quadrate bones, and the structure of jaw adductors) emerged as adaptations for the refinement of the mechanism of prey capture by the tongue. The development of another group of features (loss of the epipterygoid, m. levator pterygoidei, and structures associated with the middle ear) was an indirect consequence of the adaptations listed above. The formation of a specialized mechanism for prey capture by the tongue played a role of a key innovation (macromorphosis) in the phylogeny of chameleons. The ontogenetic relationships between the aforementioned features of the jaw apparatus of the chameleons are adaptive correlations, and the evolutionary transformations of these correlations correspond to biological coordinations. The evolutionary mechanisms underlying the formation of correlation and coordination interrelations in the organism are considered.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
References
Altevogt, Rud. and Altevogt, Ros., Studien zur Kinematik der Chamäleonzunge, Z. Vergl. Physiol., 1954, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 66–77.
Bell, D.A, Functional anatomy of the chameleon tongue, Zool. Jahrb. Anat. Ontogen. Tiere, 1989, vol. 119, no. 3–4, pp. 313–336.
Bell, D.A, Kinematics of prey capture in the chameleon, Zool. Jahrb. Allg. Zool. Physiol., 1990, vol. 94, no. 2, pp. 247–260.
Brock, G.T, The skull of the chamaeleon Lophosaura ventralis (Gray): some developmental stages, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. B, 1940, vol. 110, pp. 219–241.
de Groot, J.H. and Van Leeuwen, J.L, The chameleon tongue: a telescopic catapult, Eur. J. Morphol., 2000, vol. 38, no. 5, pp. 340–341.
Edmund, A.G., Dentition, in Biology of the Reptilia, vol. 1: Morphology, Gans, C., Ed., London: Academic, 1969, pp. 117–200.
Engelbrecht, D.,Contributions to the cranial morphology of the chameleon Microsaura pumila, Ann. Univ. Stellenbosch, Ser. A, 1951, vol. 27, no. 1–5, pp. 1–31.
Frank, G.H, Contributions to the cranial morphology of Rhampholeon platyceps Gunther, Ann. Univ. Stellenbosch, Ser. A, 1951, vol. 27, no. 1–5, pp. 33–67.
Frazzetta, T.H, The origin of amphikinesis in lizards: a problem in functional morphology and the evolution of adaptive systems, Evol. Biol., 1986, vol. 20, pp. 419–461.
Gnanamuthu, C.P, The anatomy and mechanism of the tongue of Chamaeleo calcaratus (Merrem), Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1930, vol. 31, pp. 467–486.
Gnanamuthu, C.P, Comparative study of the hyoid and tongue of some typical genera of reptiles, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. B, 1937, vol. 107, pp. 1–63.
Herrel, A., Meyers, J.J., Aerts, P., and Nishikawa, K.C, The mechanics of prey prehension in chameleons, J. Exp. Biol., 2000, vol. 203, no. 21, pp. 3255–3263.
Herrel, A., Meyers, J.J., Nishikawa, K.C., and de Vree, F.,Morphology and histochemistry of the hyolingual apparatus in chameleons, J. Morphol., 2001, vol. 249, no. 2, pp. 154–170.
Iordansky, N.N, Morphological and functional features of the jaw apparatus and cranial kinesis in chameleons, Zool. Zh., 1973, vol. 52, no. 6, pp. 891–901.
Iordansky, N.N., Evolyutsiya kompleksnykh adaptatsii: Chelyustnoi apparat amfibii i reptilii (Evolution of Complex Adaptations: The Jaw Apparatus of Amphibians and Reptiles), Moscow: Nauka, 1990.
Iordansky, N.N, Macroevolution: macrogenesis and typogenesis, Zh. Obshch. Biol., 2004, vol. 65, no. 6, pp. 451–463.
Iordansky, N.N, Pedomorphosis, neoteny, and evolution, Zool. Zh., 2005, vol. 84, no. 10, pp. 1176–1187.
Iordansky, N.N, Cranial kinesis in lizards (Lacertilia): origin, biomechanics, evolution, Zool. Zh., 2011, vol. 90, no. 8, pp. 976–986.
Iordansky, N.N., Organizmy, vidy i evolyutsiya (Organisms, Species, and Evolution), Moscow: Librokom, 2011a.
Iordansky, N.N, Streptostyly and biological correlations in the jaw apparatus of lizards (Lacertilia), Zool. Zh., 2015, vol. 94, no. 2, pp. 203–212.
Lakjer, T., Studien über die Trigeminus-versorgte Kaumuskulatur der Sauropsiden, Copenhagen: Rietzel, 1926.
Lakjer, T.,Studien über die Gaumenregion bei Sauriern im Vergleich mit Anamniern und primitiven Sauropsiden, Z. Jahrb. Anat., 1927, vol. 49, no. 1–2, pp. 57–356.
Lubosch, W.,Bemerkungen über Zungenmuskulatur des Chamäleons, Gegenb. Morphol. Jahrb., 1932, vol. 71, pp. 158–170.
Methuen, P.A. and Hewitt, J., A contribution to our knowledge of the anatomy of the chamaeleons, Trans. Roy. Soc. South Afr., 1914, vol. 4, pp. 89–104.
Parker, W.K, On the structure of the skull in the chameleons, Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1880, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 77–106.
Poglayen-Neuwall, I., Die Kiefermuskulatur der Eidechsen und ihre Innervation, Z. Wiss. Zool., 1954, vol. 158, no. 1, pp. 79–132.
Rieppel, O.,The skull and jaw adductor musculature in chameleons, Rev. Suisse Zool., 1981, vol. 88, no. 2, pp. 433–445.
Schmalhausen, I.I., Organizm kak tseloe v individual’nom i istoricheskom razvitii (The Organism as a Whole in Individual and Historical Development), Moscow: Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1938.
Schmalhausen, I.I., Puti i zakonomernosti evolyutsionnogo protsessa (Pathways and Trends of the Evolutionary Process), Moscow: Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1939.
Schmalhausen, I.I., Faktory evolyutsii (teoriya stabiliziruyushchego otbora) (Factors of Evolution: The Theory of Stabilizing Selection), Moscow: Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1946.
Schmalhausen, I.I., Problemy darvinizma (Problems in Darwinism), 2nd ed., Moscow: Nauka, 1969.
Schwenk, K., Feeding in lepidosaurs, in Feeding: Form, Function, and Evolution in Tetrapod Vertebrates, Schwenk, K., Ed., San Diego, CA: Academic, 1999, pp. 175–291.
Schwenk, K. and Throckmorton, G.S, Functional and evolutionary morphology of lingual feeding in squamate reptiles: phylogenetics and kinematics, J. Zool. (London), 1989, vol. 219, pp. 153–175.
Severtsov, A.N., Morfologicheskie zakonomernosti evolyutsii (Morphological Trends of Evolution), Moscow: Akad. Nauk ANSSSR, 1939.
Severtsov, A.S., Napravlennost’ evolyutsii (Directionality of Evolution), Moscow: Mosk. Gos. Univ., 1990.
Severtsov, S.A, The history of development of the tongue in Chamaeleo bilineatus, Russ. Zool. Zh., 1923, vol. 3, no. 3–4, pp. 263–283.
Siebenrock, F.,Das Skelet von Brookesia superciliaris Kuhl., Akad. Wiss. Wien Sitzungsber. Math.-Naturwiss. Kl. Abt. 1, 1893, vol. 102, pp. 71–118.
Vorob’eva, E.I. and Chugunova, T.Yu., Zubnaya sistema yashcherits (The Dental System of Lizards), Moscow: Nauka, 1995.
Wainwright, P.C., Kraklau, D.M., and Bennett, A.F, Kinematics of tongue projection in Chamaeleo oustaleti, J. Exp. Biol., 1991, vol. 159, pp. 109–133.
Zoond, A.,The mechanism of projection of the chameleon’s tongue, J. Exp. Biol., 1932, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 174–185.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © N.N. Iordansky, 2016, published in Zoologicheskii Zhurnal, 2016, Vol. 95, No. 10, pp. 1173–1181.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Iordansky, N.N. Functional relationships in the jaw apparatus of the chameleons and the evolution of adaptive complexes. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 43, 1195–1202 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359016110066
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359016110066