ABSTRACT
Musculature and connective tissue hold thoracic limb in proper alignment with the vertebrae and ribs. The epaxial musculature of the neck and trunk is covered by extrinsic muscles of the forelimb and hindlimb as well as the thoracolumbar fascia. Hypaxial musculature is associated with the ventral and ventrolateral surfaces of the vertebrae and tends to run in a craniocaudal direction. The rounded tympanic bullae found near the caudoventral surface of the skull contain an incomplete bony septum that divides the middle ear cavity into tympanic and endotympanic parts. The hyoid apparatus articulates with the caudoventral skull dorsally and the thyroid cartilage of the larynx caudally. In the ventral neck, with one attachment to the sternum are the mm. sternocephalicus, sternohyoideus, and sternothyroideus. The m. sternothyroideus inserts on the lateral thyroid cartilage of the larynx. Axial muscles are responsible for locomotion of the axial skeleton. Their attachments are located on some part of the skull, hyoid apparatus, larynx, ribs, or sternum.
