Hi herebedragons,
(formerly known as RAZD correct?)
Yes, RAZD is the initials for Rebel American Zen Deist (see signature).
Thanks for the links, unfortunately none of them worked.
Because this one
Wayback Machine0/http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/2437/therapsd.htm
Is archived, clicking on the link doesn't take you to the archived site, you need to copy and paste the whole link. Let me see if this works:
archived therapsid site
Yep.
I was able to get on palaeos.com by going to the main page, but there was not many active links.
Yep. I wish they had kept the old site until the new one was up and running. It was awesome.
Really? I didn't take it to be like a snake jaw at all. A snake does have a double hinge, but it has a hinge between the quadrate and the articulate as do all (or most) reptiles. Then it has a second hinge at the top of the quadrate that allows the quadrate to rotate.
Sorry to confuse: I didn't mean they had the same joints, just that both are double jointed (which obviates any creationist objection to them not being useful).
I actually saw it as a disadvantage as the jaw would have to come off of one joint to rotate on the other. And indeed, it did not last long and the reptilian joint quickly gave way to the mammalian joint.
In the therapsids this could enable opening the back of the mouth for swallowing. Especially as it had to start with the intermediate bone being as large as seen on the reptile ancestors, yes? It may also have facilitated chewing and evolution of a jaw that can chew.
Yea, the teeth are an interesting part of this too. The intermediates have permanent molars like mammals, but the rest of their teeth are replaced like reptiles. There is even a transition in how the teeth are fixed in the jaw. It may be easier to explain changes in teeth with natural selection and if the changes in teeth effect jaw development ...
Tie it together, the jaw and the teeth, perhaps it was co-evolution?
Enjoy