Hind limb myology of the southern brown bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus) and greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) (Marsupialia : Peramelemorphia)

Abstract

It is posted here for your personal use. No further distribution is permitted. Bandicoots and bilbies most commonly use quadrupedal, asymmetrical half--bounding or bounding gaits and present an unusual combination of hind limb morphological features, including an ossified patella, a modified tibiofibular joint, and syndactylous morphology of the pes. We performed comparative dissections of the hind limb of the southern brown bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus fusciventer; n = 13) and greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis; n=4)providing detailed descriptions of the muscular anatomy. These species displayed significant modification of the hind limb muscular anatomy and associated connective tissues, including emphasis on multi--articular muscles, such as the hamstrings, and extreme development of fascial structures. These patterns were more extreme in I. obesulus than in M. lagotis.Differences between the hind limb anatomy of the I. obesulus and M. lagotis reflect the different ecological and environmental pressures on their locomotion and digging behaviours.

Forelimb Myology of Carnivorous Marsupials (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae): Implications for the Ancestral Body Plan of the Australidelphia

“…This plesiomorphic musculature in marsupials is more complex, having a greater number of muscles. In her descriptive studies of musculature of marsupials, Warburton (Warburton, ; Harvey and Warburton, ; Warburton et al, ) has attempted, where possible, to standardize the marsupial muscle nomenclature with that of the Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria (Schaller, ). The greater complexity of muscles in marsupials and the highly derived condition of cursorial domestic eutherians, however, has made this a challenging task, and one that was often fraught with confusion.…”

“…In contrast, Peramelemorphia and Diprotodontia (convergently) have a derived syndactylous condition of the pes in which the often diminutive second and third digits are anatomically and developmentally bound together (Jones, ; Szalay, ; Morton et al, ; Archer and Hand, ). Other plesiomorphic postcranial traits in dasyurids include the retention of a clavicle in the pectoral girdle, which is reduced or absent in peramelemorphians (Gordon and Hulbert, ; Warburton et al, ) and Notoryctes (Stirling, ; Warburton, ), the presence of epipubic bones [reduced or lost in Notoryctes (Stirling, ; Warburton, ) and Thylacinus (Dixon, )], and the possession of a cartilaginous patelloid, which is distinct to the ossified patella found in peramelemorphians (Jones, ; Reese et al, ; Warburton et al, ) and Notoryctes (Stirling, ; Warburton, ). Based on these skeletal plesiomorphies, we hypothesize that the muscular anatomy of dasyurids is likely to represent a primitive arrangement among Australian marsupials.…”

The Evolution of Appendicular Muscles During the Fin-to-Limb Transition: Possible Insights Through Studies of Soft Tissues, a Perspective

“…Concerning tetrapods, we excluded all birds from our dataset since they have highly derived forelimbs specialized for flight, but we covered a diversity of tetrapods that use quadrupedal locomotion. We included the data on the alligator Alligator mississippiensis (Allen et al, 2010), varanid lizards (Dick and Clemente, 2016;Cieri et al, 2020), and several mammals (Payne et al, 2005a;Ercoli et al, 2013Ercoli et al, , 2015Moore et al, 2013;Rupert et al, 2015;Warburton et al, 2015;Olson et al, 2016;Martin et al, 2019). The publications on the coelacanth (Huby et al, 2021), the alligator (Allen et al, 2010), the varanids (Dick and Clemente, 2016;Cieri et al, 2020), the short-nosed bandicoot Isoodon (Warburton et al, 2015;Martin et al, 2019) and the grison Galictis (Ercoli et al, 2013(Ercoli et al, , 2015 include both the pectoral and pelvic appendages.…”

“…We included the data on the alligator Alligator mississippiensis (Allen et al, 2010), varanid lizards (Dick and Clemente, 2016;Cieri et al, 2020), and several mammals (Payne et al, 2005a;Ercoli et al, 2013Ercoli et al, , 2015Moore et al, 2013;Rupert et al, 2015;Warburton et al, 2015;Olson et al, 2016;Martin et al, 2019). The publications on the coelacanth (Huby et al, 2021), the alligator (Allen et al, 2010), the varanids (Dick and Clemente, 2016;Cieri et al, 2020), the short-nosed bandicoot Isoodon (Warburton et al, 2015;Martin et al, 2019) and the grison Galictis (Ercoli et al, 2013(Ercoli et al, , 2015 include both the pectoral and pelvic appendages. The data for the American badger, Taxidea taxus (Moore et al, 2013), the nine-banded armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus (Olson et al, 2016), and the marmot Marmota monax (Rupert et al, 2015) pertain only to the forelimb, whereas the data for the horse Equus caballus (Payne et al, 2005a) pertain only to the hind limb.…”

Musculoskeletal anatomy and nomenclature of the mammalian epipubic bones

“…Detailed atlases on some wild species have been published (e.g., Smith & Schenk, 2000, 2001. The most recent and complete marsupial muscle descriptions and comparative studies pertain to forelimbs and hindlimbs, yet, abdominal and pelvic muscles, including the epipubic bones, are rarely fully described (e.g., Diogo et al, 2016;Stein, 1981;Warburton et al, 2015).…”