Appendicular Musculature in the Echidna, Tachyglossus-Aculeatus (Monotremata, Tachyglossidae)

Abstract

An Australian echidna, Tachyglossus aculeatus, was dissected in order to verify the positions, origins, and insertions of the major appendicular muscles. Muscle identifications followed Westling (1889). Drawings of muscles were made as the dissection progressed. In osteology and musculature, as in many other aspects of their biology, echidnas display a mosaic pattern of apparently reptilian, mammalian, and unique traits.