3D Jaw Muscle vectors of Citipati osmolskae

3D Model

3D resultant vectors of the jaw muscles derived from surface attachment centroids, scaled modeled muscle volumes, and estimated PCSAs of the oviraptor Citipati osmolskae. This collection shares 3D models of skulls and jaw muscle resultant vectors demonstrating phylogenetic changes in muscle orientation along the lines to modern birds. While temporal muscles shifted to more vertical but caudally oriented temporal muscles, their protractor muscles shifted from transverse orientations to rostrocaudal orientations that favor powered cranial kinesis. Wilken et al. 2025. Avian cranial kinesis is the result of increased encephalization during the origin of birds. Proc Natl Acad Sci, 122 (13) e2411138122; https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2411138122.