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Possible Directions of Further Development of F.Ya. Dzerzhinsky’s Program in Research on the Jaw Apparatus of Birds

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Abstract

The works by F.Ya. Dzerzhinsky and his disciples have rendered the jaw apparatus of birds a conventional and thoroughly characterized research object for functional morphology in Russia. The author, who communicated with Dzerzhinsky for many years, attempts to reconsider his scientific heritage in a critical manner and to use it as a foundation for outlining the most promising directions of further research. The analysis shows that underestimation of the problem of muscle mass economy in the jaw apparatus, despite the critical importance of any excess ballast for birds, was a serious drawback of Dzerzhinsky’s method. A new model based on the separation of the kinematics of bill opening and food object compression provides a solution for the problem of economical use of muscle mass in the avian jaw apparatus. The length of the major jaw adductor muscles remains virtually unchanged when the bill is opened, so that these muscles act as inextensible links of the closed multilink kinematic chain of the kinetic skull. Length change upon mouth opening being unnecessary, these muscles can be short-fibered, that is, lightweight but strong. The large force of these muscles is only used by the bird when the object is fixed in the bill and the jaw joint locking mechanism is switched on; a different kinematic chain used for object compression only is formed in this case. If the nonparallel arrangement of the pterygoid muscle and the jugal bar is also taken into account, the avian capacity for using the full force potential of the jaw adductor muscles without careful adjustment to each food object and the specific conditions of food object capturing becomes easy to understand. The main elements of the proposed model, which were found out by Dzerzhinsky himself, acquire a new meaning in light of the concept of economical use of the muscle mass. This enables us to make a major generalization concerning the adaptive significance of the cranial kinesis in birds as a means of reducing the jaw adductors’ mass without decreasing their force. In addition to the new model of jaw mechanics, other promising directions are proposed for the development of Dzerzhinsky’s work based on the expansion of the set of methods. The analysis of the aponeurotic framework of jaw muscles from the standpoint of optimizing the spatial packaging of muscle fibers may be a promising topic for research based on a combination of computer tomography and computational modeling.

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Notes

  1. Dzerzhinsky’s profound adherence to the massless world model can be demonstrated by the following example. In my opinion, only one of the few critical comments related to his Doctoral Dissertation was substantial. This comment, authored by N.V. Kokshaysky, a renowned specialist in biological aero- and hydrodynamics from Severtzov Institute of Evolutionary Animal Morphology and Ecology, Russian Academy of Sciences, and Dzerzhinsky’s close associate, was as follows: “Water density, rather than viscosity, should be considered in parts of the text that address the physical properties of water in relation to various executions of the jaw apparatus’ activity (with filtering possibly being an exception).” The comment was primarily related to Dzerzhinsky’s critical analysis of the above-mentioned experimental study of water pumping by the duck’s jaw apparatus (Zweers, 1974). Dzerzhinsky stated that Zweers’ interpretation of the experimental results was only partially correct, because the interaction of the upper jaw with the lower one via the water located between them was not taken into account. Kokshaysky agreed with this critical comment, but reproached Dzerzhinsky for attributing this interaction to water viscosity, rather than to its mass. Dzerzhinsky certainly admitted the relevance of Kokshaysky’s criticism.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I will never forget the endless debates with F.Ya. Dzerzhinsky, my dear teacher. As I learned from them, debates are a means for expressing true friendship, rather than a way of revealing the truth.

Funding

This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 17-04-00954.

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  1. Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117647, Moscow, Russia

    A. N. Kuznetsov

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Translated by S. Semenova

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Kuznetsov, A.N. Possible Directions of Further Development of F.Ya. Dzerzhinsky’s Program in Research on the Jaw Apparatus of Birds. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 46, 691–709 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359019070070

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