P. J. Bishop, S. E. Pierce
Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 163 (9), 417-471, (11 October 2024) https://doi.org/10.3099/MCZ82
KEYWORDS: fossils, hindlimb, mammal, musculature, synapsid
Previously, the authors published a framework for phylogenetically informed reconstruction of appendicular musculature in extinct synapsids. In the present study, this framework is employed to rigorously infer the arrangement of muscles in the hindlimb of eight exemplar taxa that capture the evolutionary transformation from basal synapsids to crown therians. Muscle maps detailing origins and insertions are presented for each taxon. These will aid the interpretation of fossil material in the future, especially fragmentary remains of related species, and provide a foundation for functional analysis of the appendicular skeleton and its evolution.