The Muscles of the Infrapubic Abdominal Wall of a 6-month-old Crocodylus niloticus (Reptilia: Crocodylia)

The muscles of the infrapubic abdominal wall of crocodilians play an important role in their ventilatory mechanism. Yet the anatomy and homology of these muscles is poorly understood. To gain new insights into the anatomy of the crocodilian infrapubic abdominal wall, we dissected a specimen of Crocodylus niloticus. Origin and insertion of the muscles, as well as their arrangement relative to each other was examined in great detail. The findings were compared with those of other crocodilian taxa to detect potential variability of the muscles of interest. The homology of the muscles was studied by comparing the muscles of the crocodilian infrapubic abdominal wall with those of other diapsids. In Crocodylus niloticus, the infrapubic abdominal wall consists of four muscles: Musculus truncocaudalis, M. ischiotruncus, and Mm. rectus abdominis externus and internus. The arrangement of the muscles of the infrapubic abdominal wall of Crocodylus niloticus is consistent with that found in most other crocodilian taxa. In some crocodilian taxa, an additional muscle, M. ischiopubis, is found. In the remaining diapsids, only M. rectus abdominis is present. The crocodilian M. truncocaudalis, M. ischiotruncus and, if present, M. ischiopubis appear to be derivates of M. rectus abdominis; the development of those might be related to the evolution of the unique crocodilian ventilatory mechanism.