Anatomical Study of the Thoracic Limb Muscles in the European Badger (Meles meles): A Case Report.

Articles in Press

Document Type : Case Report

Authors

1 Semnan Province Environmental Department ,Semnan, Iran

2 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran

3 Department of Basic Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran

Abstract

The European badger belongs to the Animalia kingdom, Chordata phylum, Mammalia class, Carnivora order, Caniformia suborder, Musteloidea superfamily, and Mustelidae family. The objectives of this study are to investigate and compare the muscles of the badger's thoracic limb with those of other carnivores, address the lack of information about these muscles, and highlight the clinical significance of these muscles in movement and digging which is essential for their survival and ecological niche. The environmental organization of Semnan province found the carcass of this badger, which died of natural causes, in the surrounding areas of Semnan and transferred it to the anatomy hall, for anatomical studies. We dissected the extrinsic and intrinsic muscles of the thoracic limb after performing the sample preparation steps. A lot of interesting things were found in the study, like the two layers of the latissimus dorsi muscle, the two parts of the tensor fasciae antebrachii muscle, the thick accessory head of the triceps brachii muscle, and the two parts of the flexor carpi radialis muscle. Examined muscles exhibited similarities with other carnivorous muscles, yet they also showed significant differences in terms of the number of muscle parts and their development. The muscles of the animals compared in this study were most like the dog and most unlike the fox. Among the other cases investigated in this study was the clavicle, which is hyaline cartilage in the European badger and is most similar to the dogs and Neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis).

Keywords

Iranian Journal of Veterinary Medicine

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 05 May 2025

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