Alligator Maxilla & Teeth

The maxilla is the large, flat, tooth-bearing element of the face. The external surface of the Alligator maxilla is dimpled with numerous neurovascular foramina which communicate branches of the dorsal alveolar nerve and artery, which pass through a canal through the lateral part of the element. Many of these neurovascular foramina and neighboring pits house dome-pressure receptors, which enable the animal to sense vibrations in the water. The inside of the element houses a large lateral nasal cavity which is sealed off medially from the main airway, by large cartilaginous. The element sutures rostrally to the premaxilla, medially to the nasals, and caudally to the palatine and ectopterygoid. The caudal edge of the element forms the rim of the suborbital fenestra. Just caudal to the lateral nasal cavity’s caudal wall is the cavichonchal fossa, which is the attachment of the dorsal pterygoideus jaw muscle.