Аннотация:This study of the morpho-functional features of the jaw in the Old World suboscinine family of broadbills has been carried out on species of all but three of the nine genera: Eurylaimus javanicus, Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchos, Serilophus lunatus, Psarisomus dalhousiae, Calyptomena viridis, and Smithornis capensis. Heads and jaw muscles were first dissected, with detailed sketches made of the skull and recording of the shape and interrelations of aponeuroses in the jaw, followed by functional analysis of the jaw apparatus as a whole. As has been shown, the members of the Eurylaimidae form a natural group, with a common plan to the structure of the jaw apparatus specially adapted for consuming large items of food. All species have a wide bill and pharynx, and differ from other passerines in the simple pinnate structure of their jaw muscles, which consist of relatively long muscle fibres capable of extensive contraction and a small number of aponeuroses. Such structural features enable the jaws to open widely at the gape, and give broadbills the unusual capacity to process food at the back of the mouth. Correlated with these specializations is the structure of the tongue, which is wide, fleshy and highly mobile. Such characteristics separate the insectivorous Asian broadbills into two groups, one comprising Psarisomus and the other Eurylaimus, Cymbirhynchus and Serilophus. The green, frugivorous Calyptomena broadbills form a discrete group, while Smithornis combines a mosaic of the features of all three groups.