Movement of the epiglottis in mammals

In contrast to adult humans, the epiglottis of other mammals and infant humans is situated close to the soft palate. It has been argued that this posture is maintained during swallowing, with food passing laterally around an intact airway. To test this supposition, the movement of the epiglottis in two contrasting mammalian species, pigs and ferrets, was studied by placing radiopaque markers on the epiglottis and soft palate. Swallowing was observed with videofluoroscopy while the animals were feeding on hard and soft foods, liquids, and food mixed with barium sulfate. Analysis of the images showed that bolus formation and downward movement of the epiglottis away from the soft palate were unvarying phenomena in both animals for all tested foods. The duration of the epiglottic movement was approximately 0.3 S for liquids and slightly longer for solids. Because swallowing never occurred past an upright epiglottis, the results of this study do not support the hypothesis that adult animals maintain a patent airway during swallowing. Instead, the epiglottis in nonhuman mammals downfolds similarly to that of adult humans during swallowing.