Intracranial mobility in the coelacanth.

Analysis of the jaw mech anism of the coelacanth Latimeria shows' that the action of the intracranial artic ulation and the associated subcephalic muscles (a system unique to the Cros sopterygii) is important in increasing the angle of ihe gape and the power of the bite. Maximum rotation at the in tracranial joint is approximately 15 de grees.