jaw, either of a pair of bones that form the framework of the mouth of vertebrate animals, usually containing teeth and including a movable lower jaw (mandible) and fixed upper jaw (maxilla). Jaws function by moving in opposition to each other and are used for biting, chewing, and the handling of food.
The mandible consists of a horizontal arch, which holds the teeth and contains blood vessels and nerves. Two vertical portions (rami) form movable hinge joints on either side of the head, articulating with the glenoid cavity of the temporal bone of the skull. The rami also provide attachment for muscles important in chewing. The centre front of the arch is thickened and buttressed to form a chin, a development unique to man and some of his recent ancestors; the great apes and other animals lack chins.
The upper jaw is firmly attached to the nasal bones at the bridge of the nose; to the frontal, lacrimal, ethmoid, and zygomatic bones within the eye socket; to the palatine and sphenoid bones in the roof of the mouth; and at the side, by an extension, to the zygomatic bone (cheekbone), with which it forms the anterior portion of the zygomatic arch. The arched lower part of the maxilla contains the upper teeth. Inside the body of the bone is the large maxillary sinus.
In the human fetus and infant both the upper and lower jaws have two halves; these fuse at the midline a few months after birth.
Among the invertebrates, arthropods often have modified limbs that function in jaw action. In the subphylum Chelicerata (e.g., pycnogonids, arachnids), the pincers (chelicerae) may be used as jaws and are sometimes aided by pedipalps, which are also modified appendages. In the subphylum Mandibulata (crustaceans, insects, and myriapods), the jaw limbs are the mandibles and, to some extent, the maxillae. Such limbs may be modified for other purposes, especially in insects. Horseshoe crabs (and perhaps the extinct trilobites) can chew food with toothed projections (gnathobases) at the bases of the walking legs, but these are not considered true jaws.
Other important examples of invertebrate jaw structures are: in rotifers, the mastax of the pharynx; in polychaete worms, the jaws of the proboscis; in brittle stars, the five triangular oral jaws; in leeches of the order Gnathobdellida, the three toothed plates in the pharynx; and in cephalopods (e.g., octopuses), strong, horny, parrotlike beaks.