Anatomy of Mandible: A Comparative Study of the Asian Palm Civet (Paradoxus hermaphroditus) and Domestic Cat (Felis domesticus)

Mandible plays an important role in mastication and varies in structure as to suit the feeding habit of an animal. In the present work, comparative anatomy of mandible of Asian palm civet and Domestic cat was investigated. In both species, the two halves of mandible articulated to form symphysis mandibularis. The entire mandible comprised of a body, two horizontal rami and two vertical rami. The body showed sis alveoli for incisors and two for canines. In civet dorsal border of horizontal ramus was comparatively more concave whereas the ventral border was more convex. Alveolar border housed sis cheek teeth (three premolars and three molars) on each horizontal ramus in civet, whereas only three were observed in cat