Capsular process
Bony capsules located in rodents
title: "Capsular process" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["rodent-anatomy"] description: "Bony capsules located in rodents" topic_path: "science/biology" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsular_process" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Bony capsules located in rodents ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Oryzomys_palustris_mandible_caps.png" caption="The [[marsh rice rat]] (''Oryzomys palustris'') has a reduced capsular process.Weksler, 2006, p. 42" alt="Rodent mandible, seen from the left, with a small process at the back circled."] ::
In rodents, the capsular process or projection is a bony capsule that contains the root of the lower incisor. It is visible on the labial (outer) side of the mandible (lower jaw) as a raising in the bone. There is marked variation within species in the development of this process.
Most oryzomyines have a well-developed capsular process, which is usually located behind the coronoid process, but many have a small one, and some lack the structure entirely. Phyllotines and akodontines are also variable in their development of a capsular process.
References
Literature cited
- Steppan, S.J. 1995. Revision of the tribe Phyllotini (Rodentia: Sigmodontinae), with a phylogenetic hypothesis for the Sigmodontinae. Fieldiana Zoology 80:1–112.
- Weksler, M. 2006. Phylogenetic relationships of oryzomyine rodents (Muroidea: Sigmodontinae): separate and combined analyses of morphological and molecular data. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 296:1–149.
References
- Weksler, 2006, p. 42
- Weksler, 2006, p. 41
- Steppan, 1995, p. 26
- Weksler, 2006, pp. 41–42
- Steppan, 1995, table 4, char. 33
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