Developmental changes of the zygomaticomaxillary suture of the rabbit.

Developmental changes of the zygomatic bone, maxilla and suture between them were investigated on two groups of five newborn rabbits at birth. The zygomaticomaxillary suture was not yet completed in the newborn rabbit, but its completion was observed in the first week after birth. The fusion found on the suture has gradually begun in its middle position, and finally the suture line disappeared, although rarely a remnant of the line was still observed at its inferior end even in the adult rabbit. The anterior root of the zygomatic arch was the zygomatic process of the maxilla, and the perpendicular plate of this arch was the zygomatic bone itself. The zygomatic process appeared as a trapezoid with a sharp border protruding backwards. The original suture line in the adult rabbit passed obliquely from the border anterosuperiorly up to the anterior end of the orbital margin.