MORPHOLOGY OF THE MUSCLES OF THE THIGH OF CRAB-EATING RACCOON (Procyon cancrivorus) – Cuvier 1798

Abstract

The Procyon cancrivorus is a wild animal, which belongs to the carnivore order, present in all Brazilian territory, some Central American countries, Uruguay and Argentina. Although this animal is not in the list of endangered species, there are few morphological data about this species. Only studies about the habits, habitat and some morphological data were found in Brazilian and world literature. The purpose of this study was to describe the proximal and distal insertions of the posterior and medial thigh muscles of the P. cancrivorus, comparing them with domestic carnivores literature data, such as dogs and cats. The five specimens were collected postmortem, victims of accidents on highways. The animals were fixed in formaldehyde (10%) and stored in opaque covered tanks. The description of the thigh musculature was made possible by the dissection technique, visualizing its proximal and distal insertions, irrigation and innervation. The results were documented with a digital camera and compared with literature data of the thigh muscles of domestic animals such as cats and dogs. Studies on the quadriceps femoris, sartorius, tensor fascia lata, biceps femoris, semitendinosus, adductor, semimembranosus, caudal crural abductor, twins, quadratus femoris, gracilis and pectineus were carried out and great similarity with the thigh muscles of carnivores such as cats and dogs were found.

KEYWORDS: Anatomy, muscles of the thigh, Procyon cancrivorus, raccoon.