part_of part of part of anatomical system musculature jaw muscle adductor mandibulae ZFA:0007049 Is a mandibular muscle that forms along the palatoquadrates and inserts on Meckel's cartilages and functions in jaw closing[ZFA:0007049]. TAO:0007049 The division of the adductor mandibulae in the various lines of tetrapod evolution correlates with divergences in their methods of feeding. (...) As the jaws become stronger and their movements more complex in the line of evolution toward mammals, the adductor complex becomes divided into several distinct muscles (temporalis, masseter, pterygoideus, tensor tympani, tensor veli palati).[well established][VHOG] UBERON:0011683 In teleosts, the complex is composed of several derived muscles that attach to different parts of the highly kinetic skull. An adductor muscle that acts on the jaw. In some species, this is subdivided into segments based on attachment. m. adductor mandibulae levator mandibulae dorsal adductor mandibulae EFO:0000227 adductor mandibulae complex animal developmental tissue