With multiple well-preserved specimens, tyrannosaurid dinosaurs are ideal subjects for exploring the role of the neck for feeding in an extinct amniote clade. Detailed exploration of the morphology of avian and crocodilian neck muscles grounds phylogenetic inference of musculature of tyrannosaurids. Introduced methods of kinematic and physiological inference explicate action and function of tyr...

Boiga dendrophila (mangrove catsnake) is a colubrid snake that lives in Southeast Asian lowland rainforests and mangrove swamps and that preys primarily on birds. We have isolated, purified, and sequenced a novel toxin from its venom, which we named denmotoxin. It is a monomeric polypeptide of 77 amino acid residues with five disulfide bridges. In organ bath experiments, it displayed potent pos...

The cervical spine may be the source of many pain syndromes, including : neck pain, headaches of cervical origin, cervical radiculopathies, upper thoracic pain and even shoulder and elbow pain. This paper deals with the referral of cervical pain to the upper part of the thorax. The major point is that in this case, the pain is felt at the thoracic level and not in the neck (or at a lesser exten...

The neuromuscular activity of venom from Bothrops fonsecai, a lancehead endemic to southeastern Brazil, was investigated. Chick biventer cervicis (CBC) and mouse phrenic nerve-diaphragm (PND) preparations were used for myographic recordings and mouse diaphragm muscle was used for membrane resting potential (RP) and miniature end-plate potential (MEPP) recordings. Creatine kinase release and mus...

The yellow Iranian scorpion Odontobuthus doriae can cause fatal envenoming, but its mechanism of action is unclear. One of the reported manifestations of envenoming is moderate to severe involuntary tremor of skeletal muscle. In order to understand better the mechanism of action of this venom on skeletal muscle function, we examined the effects of the venom in vitro on chick biventer cervicis (...

Natural head movements in alert, unrestrained cats were studied using video-filming, videofluoroscopy and electromyographic (EMG) recording methods. In each cat, up to sixteen neck muscles or neck-muscle compartments were implanted with recording electrodes. Patterns of muscle recruitment were examined during systematically-selected behavioral epochs in which the cat held a range of stationary ...

Human neck muscles have a complex multi-layered architecture. The role and neural control of these neck muscles were examined in nine seated subjects performing three series of isometric neck muscle contractions: i) 50 N contractions in eight fixed horizontal directions, ii) 25 N contractions and iii) 50 N contractions, both with a continuously changing horizontal force direction. Activity in t...