Variation in the Muscles and Nerves of the Leg in Two Genera of Grouse (Tympanuchus and Pedioecetes)Holmes, E. Bruce
Science
Variation in the Muscles and Nerves of the Leg in Two Genera of Grouse (Tympanuchus and Pedioecetes)
Holmes, E. Bruce
Leg -- Innervation; Leg -- Muscles; Sharp-tailed grouse; Tympanuchus
In neither of Gadow's works did he distinguish tibial and peroneal
components in the thigh. In his later work (1891), covering a wide
variety of birds, he found that M. piriformis sometimes has a femoral
innervation in addition to the constant sciatic one and that M. gluteus
profundus may or may not have a sciatic supply in addition to the
femoral one. A comparison of Gadow's terminology of the sciatic nerve
branches in the shank and foot (in both works) with mine shows that his
branch I represents my peroneal nerve plus my paraperoneal branch of the
tibial nerve (Ic); his branch II represents my medial division of the
tibial nerve; and his branch III represents my posterior (IIIa) and
lateral (IIIb) divisions of the tibial nerve.
Gadow's study (1880) on the ratites included _Struthio_, _Rhea_, and
_Casuarius_. Only in _Casuarius_ did Gadow find a branch (IIe) of the
sciatic nerve supplying Mm. lumbricalis, adductor digiti II, and
abductor digiti II. The two former muscles are typically supplied (as in
_Rhea_) by the paraperoneal branch of the tibial nerve; Gadow's branch
IIe presumably represents a segregated branch of this nerve. More
surprising is his finding that M. abductor digiti II is innervated in
_Casuarius_ by both the deep peroneal nerve and branch IIe and in _Rhea_
by branch Ic (paraperoneal branch of tibial nerve). The deep peroneal
innervation is typical. Also unexpected is his finding that the
posterior division of the femoral nerve gives minute twigs into M.
gastrocnemius pars interna in _Struthio_ and _Casuarius_. Since the
other terminal branches of this nerve in these birds are nonmuscular,
since this muscle is chiefly supplied by other nerves, and since the
innervation from the femoral nerve is apparently atypical for most
birds, the possibility should be considered that the femoral twigs are
sensory rather than motor.
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