Konstruktionsprinzipien an der Vorder‐ und Hinterpfote der Hauskatze (Felis catus). III. Mitteilung: Muskulatur

Abstract

With regard to muscular mass and inner structure, the muscles of the forepaw and hindpaw of the domestic cat are grouped functionally, compared and evaluated. A high degree of functional adaptation is present in these muscles, for example in the passive locomotion apparatus of the paws. The domestic cat is not a 'running animal' like other domestic mammals. Also, in domestication it has preserved a strongly individual way of life and has remained a quick, ambushing hunter and climber on the run. Hence its forepaw is a flexible guiding and gripping apparatus, while its hindpaw provides stability for sprinting and non-skid pushing. The partly re-interpreted functions of the muscles are described and listed in four tables.

First Evidence of Pathology in the Forelimb of the Late Miocene Saber‐Toothed Felid Promegantereon ogygia (Machairodontinae, Smilodontini)

“…This muscle, very developed in felids (Barone, ; Julik et al, ), originates on a wide area including the craniolateral margin of the proximal epiphyses of both radius and ulna (Fig. ); it runs under the muscles extensor digitorum communis and extensor digitorum lateralis, curving mediodistally over the tendons of the cranial radial muscles; it attaches by a short and wide tendon onto the proximal border of the first metacarpal (Barone, , ; Vollmerhaus and Roos, ). The muscle abductor pollicis longus is an important extensor and abductor of the thumb (Evans, ; Barone, ), and thus it plays an important role in the hunting activity of felids, which use their grasping capacities for subduing prey before applying a bite on the throat, muzzle, or nape of the victim (Gonyea, , ; Akersten, ; Turner and Antón, ).…”