Muscles of subcutaneous region

Ox

Musculus Cutaneous / Cutaneous muscle / Panniculus carnosus

Some striated muscles are placed at the subcutis in some parts of the body are known as cutaneous muscles. In some places, these fibers are inserted into the skin. They may have connection with the skeleton. It is divided into –

1. Facial (cutaneous facial) part
2. Omo-brachial (cutaneous omobrachialis) part
3. Abdominal (cutaneous trunci) part.

Facial part

• Will be described along with the muscles of the head

Omo-brachial part

• It covers the lateral aspect of the shoulder and arm
• Its fibres begin about the upper part of the scapular region and extent vertically downwards to the upper part of the forearm
• They are continuous behind with the abdominal part

Abdominal part

• The cutaneous muscle of the abdomen covers a large part of the trunk behind the shoulder and arm
• It is continuous in front with the omobrachial part
• The two side muscles are thickest at the ventral part but as they pass towards the lateral aspects, they become thinner and thinner and finally towards the spine they become aponeurotic
• The upper limit of the muscle corresponds to a line drawn from the dorsal angle of the scapula to the flap of the flank
• In the umbilical region, the two muscles are about a handbreadth apart from each other
• In front, they diverge and partly overlap the deep pectoral muscle and are inserted to the medial tuberosity of the humerus
• Posteriorly it forms a fold, which is included between the layers of the skin and forms the flap of the flank
• Action
  • The intimate attachment of this muscle to the skin causes twitching of the skin when the muscle contracts and thus helps the animal to drive away insects, which torment the animal by their bite or sting
• Blood supply
  • Cutaneous branches of the anterior and posterior abdominal arteries
• Nerve supply
  • External thoracic nerve

Horse

• A cervical part of this muscle- cutaneous colli is better derveloped

Dog

• The abdominal part is continued over the croup and united with the opposite side along the dorso-lumbar spine