1.9 Alligator mississippiensis
Above: Skull of Alligator, seen from above and with the lower jaws to the side.
This is the skull (and jaws) of the extant alligator
Above: Skull of Alligator seen from above.
Above: Skull of Alligator seen from the right.
Identify the nasal openings and eye sockets. Identify the three tooth bearing bones – premaxilla, maxilla and dentary. Can you find the rounded ‘occipital condyle’ at the back of the skull where it would have articulated with the first neck vertebra? Just above this is the ‘foramen magnum’ – the opening where the spinal cord enters the skull and joins the brain. In the image below the skull is inverted and lies on it's dorsal surface, with the palate uppermost.
Above: Skull of Alligator seen from behind (the skull roof is at the bottom and the palate is uppermost).
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