Current intensive pig meat production conditions impose the need to expand the knowledge about skeletal muscle characteristics, with the aim to improve both production of pig lean meat and meat quality. Histological and biochemical characteristics of the muscle highly infl uence the quality of meat, with muscle fi ber number, size and fi ber type distribution being important constituents. The objective of this study was to examine the structure of m. semitendinosus of piglets at birth, and slaughter pigs at the end of fattening. Total muscle fi ber number was 350 x 10 3 in newborn piglets and increased up to nearly 900 x 10 3 in slaughter pigs. At birth, the muscle consisted of 3.76% primary fi bers and 96.24% secondary fi bers. At slaughter, slow-twitch oxidative fi bers represented 21% of the total muscle fi ber number, fast-twitch oxidative fi bers represented 28 % while the majority of fi bers (52%) in m. semitendinosus were of fast twitch glycolitic type. Obtained results indicate that postnatal muscle growth is accomplished mainly by muscle fi ber hypertrophy.

The aim of this paper was to investigate the differences in morphometric characteristics and histological structure of m. semitendinosus, between gilts and barrows of German Landrace breed at the end of the fattening period. Morphometric characteristics (weight, length, diameter and cross sectional area) of m. semitendinosus were not signifi cantly different, while gender as a factor infl uenced the histological properties of this muscle. A very high statistical difference (p<0.01) in the total number of muscle fi bers in m. semitendinosus was determined, with gilts having a higher total fi ber number. The cross sectional area of fast twitch oxidative (FTO) fi bers was signifi cantly higher (p<0.05) in barrows. Gender did not affect the distribution of different fi ber types: in both gender, the most present fi ber types (48-52 %) were fast twitch glycolitic (FTG), FTO fi bers represented 27-30 % of the total fi ber number, while slow twitch oxidative fi bers (STO) were the least represented (≈ 20 %).

Metatarsal bones and finger articles of roe deer and sheep are rarely used for animal identification. In practice there are frequent cases where on a corpse the head and distal parts of the limbs are missing. That is in order to prevent the identification of the bones, by which it is easiest to determine the animal species. For identification of metatarsal bones (Ossa metatarsi) as well as finger articles (Os?sa digitorum pedis seu phalanges digitorum) there were used distal parts of hindlimb bones, taken from 6 roe deers and 7 sheep. Afer the separation from the soft tissues, the bones were boiled in an autoclave, and for bleaching and degreasing they were kept in 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The bones were air dried, and then photographed. In roe deer, four metatarsal bones are developed: the second (Os metatarsale secundum), the third (Os metatarsale tertium), the fourth (Os metatarsale quartum) and the fifth (Os metatarsale quintum). In sheep, the third (Os metatarsale tertium) and the fourth (Os metatarsale quartum) metatarsal bones are developed. Both in roe deer and sheep, the third and the fourth metatarsal bones are fused into one single bone - main metatarsal bone. In sheep, on dorsal and plantar side of these bones there are grooves which are more shallow and wider than in roe deer. In roe deer, hindlimbs have four fingers, and in sheep two. In roe deer there is also the difference in the number of articles on the second and fifth finger. In this animal the second and fifth finger have coalesced the first and second article (Ph1 + Ph2) and the third article(Ph3). Based on the third article of the third and fourth finger, it may be distinguished one animal from another. Margo solearis in roe deer is peaky and in sheep it is blunt. In roe deer Processus extensorius is peaky on Margo coronalis, while in shee it is blunt. In the cases when material (fresh meat, blood, hair) necessary for some laboratory methods is missing, there is used the method of animal species determination based on morphological differences between the bones of these two animals. By this method it can be with certainty determined which animal the bones belong to.