APPENDICULAR SKELETON
• In quadrupeds, consists of two pairs of
• Fore/pectoral/ thoracic limbs (appendages)
• Hind/pelvic limbs (appendages)
• Bones of limbs divided into
• A girdle
• A column and THORACIC LIMB
• An extremity
• Bones of thoracic limb consists of:
1. Thoracic/ pectoral/ shoulder girdle –
• Scapula, clavicle, coracoid
2. Column:
• a. Arm/ Brachium – Humerus
• b. Forearm/ Antebrachium – Radius & Ulna
3. Extremity: Manus:
• a. Carpals
• b. Metacarpals
• c. Digits :phalanges & sesamoids
THORACIC LIMB
• Modifications in number and extent of
development of various bones from this
typical pattern occur in domestic animals
Examples:
1. Absence of a typical pectoral girdle;
only scapula well developed in mammals (All
three bones present in fowl)
2. Ulna reduced; fused to radius in ox, horse
3. Extensive modifications in bones of manus
• With two well developed digits in ox, sheep,
goat, pig
• Only one in horse
• Five (first reduced) in dog
• Three in fowl
THORACIC GIRDLE
• In domestic mammals scapula is the
most developed bone of pectoral girdle
• Coracoid represented merely as a bony
process on scapula
• In them, clavicle is present as a
rudimentary ossicle (carnivores) or a
tendinous cord (ungulates) embedded
in brachiocephalicus muscle (clavicular
intersection) and connection between
scapula and trunk is purely musculo-
elastic
Thoracic girdle - OX
• Thoracic girdle consists of
• a well developed scapula and a small fused coracoid process
• Clavicle is absent and represented as a tendinous band in brachiocephalicus muscle
SCAPULA/‘shoulder blade’
• A flat
triangular bone
• Situated on
craniolateral
part of thorax
• Directed
obliquely Clavicle being absent, it is connected to axial
downward and skeleton only by muscles known as ‘synsarcosis’
forward (syn = union; sarco = related to flesh)
SCAPULA
• Has two surfaces, 3 borders, 3
angles
• Lateral surface wide above;
narrow below
• Divided into two fossae by
spine of scapula
– -cranial supraspinous
fossa (supraspinatus
muscle)
– - infraspinous fossa
(infraspinatus muscle)
SCAPULA
• spine is somewhat rough and
tuberous in middle (except in
carnivores) to form tuberosity
of spine (trapezius) and is
prolonged downwards to form
acromion process (deltoideus)
• In horse and pig, acromion process absent
• In carnivores acromion process laterally flattened to form a
hamate process
• In cat it is furnished with an additional projection, suprahamate
process or metacromion process
• Medial surface presents a shallow subscapular fossa
(subscapularis muscle)
• Upper third of this surface is a roughened area, facies serrata,
which presents cranially a triangular rough area (serratus
ventralis cervicis) and caudally a rough line (serratus ventralis
thoracis muscle)
MUSCLES OF NECK AND BACK
Extrinsic muscles- fore limb
Superficial layer
Trapezius,
Omotransversarius,
Latissimus Dorsi,
Brachiocephalicus,
Superficial pectorals
Deep layer
Rhomboideus,
Serratus ventralis
– Serratus ventralis cervicis
– Serratus ventralis thoracis
Deep pectorals
Dorsal border thick and pitted and carries scapular cartilage,
unossified part of foetal scapula
• Medial face of cartilage gives attachment to rhombodius
muscle
Cranial angle Caudal angle
• Cranial border • Caudal border
convex and thick, presents
rough dorsally nutrient foramen
and concave and in ventral third
smooth
Distal angle
• Cranial (cervical) angle thin
• Caudal (thoracic) angle thick and rough
• Ventral (glenoid) angle is joined to body of bone by neck of scapula
• Ventral angle bears glenoid cavity for articulation with head of humerus
• Rim of cavity presents glenoid notch, on cranio-lateral aspect
• Cranial to glenoid cavity is supraglenoid tubercle (Tuber scapulae) (biceps
brachii) and presents coracoid process on its medial aspect (coracobrachialis
muscle)
• Glenoid notch indistinct in ox
Sheep & Goat
• Vertebral border longer
• Neck narrower
• Scapular spine less tuberous
• Tuberosity of spine absent in goat
• Inferior or glenoid extremity
relatively longer since tuber
scapula connected with rim of
glenoid cavity
• Rim of subscapular fossa extensive
Horse • Acromion process absent
• Subscapular fossa deeper; separates two
rough triangular areas in upper third
• Glenoid notch on craniomedial aspect of
rim
• Supraglenoid tubercle larger; placed
further away from glenoid cavity
• Coracoid process well developed
• One or two bones
Dog • Clavicle and scapula
Clavicle
• Small and thin, irregularly triangular
bone or cartilaginous plate,
embedded in brachiocephalicus
muscle, cranial to shoulder joint and
makes no articulation with rest of
skeleton
• Spine in middle of lateral surface and
DOG- SCAPULA divides into nearly two equal fossae
• Increases in height dorsoventrally to
level of glenoid cavity where it
terminates in acromion process
which is laterally flattened to form a
hamate process in dog
• Glenoid cavity extends to ventral
surface of supraglenoid tubercle
• Coracoid process small or absent
• Anterior border convex and anterior
angle practically absent
• Supraglenoid tubercle blunt
• Caudal border thickened above
shoulder joint to form infraglenoid
tubercle
Dog
• Dorsal border convex
• Scapular cartilage in
form of a thin band
•In cat and rabbit, suprahamate or
metacromion process present as a
small, broad, caudally directed
process from Spine
Metacromion process in rabbit and cat
Pig
• Spine triangular and very
wide in its middle It
curves backwards over
infraspinous fossa and
bears a tuberosity
• Acromion process
rudimentary or absent
• Cranial border convex,
thick and rough in
middle
• Glenoid notch absent
Pig
• Scapular cartilage
shaped like “blade
of a scythe” point of
which lies at cranial
angle and broad end
at caudal projecting
somewhat beyond it
Fowl- Pectoral girdle
• Consists of all three bones
scapula namely clavicle, coracoid and
scapula
• Clavicles: Slender rod-like
bones, ventrally fused into a
coracoid
flattened plate, hypocleidium
or furcular facet
• Two combined clavicles form
furcula or wish bone which
because of its shape forms a
support for shoulders
preventing them from coming
too close together during
flight
Fowl - Coracoid
• Strongest bone of pectoral
girdle, directed ventrally and
caudally to articulate with
sternum
• Upper extremity prolonged
into a hook-like process
medially and presents a
small articular surface
(glenoid cavity) for humerus
• Below this is another area
for scapula
Fowl – Scapula
• A narrow saber- or sword–shaped
bone, placed parallel to vertebral
column reaching almost to ilium
• Cranial end presents a depression
laterally which forms part of
glenoid cavity
• Cranially there is a projection,
acromion process, which meets
clavicle and coracoid to form
foramen triosseum through
which tendons of major flight
muscles like deep pectorals and
supracoracoideus pass
