title: [Variability of muscular tissue distribution in the hindlimb of lambs. I. Individual muscles].
abstract: Using multivariate analysis of the centered data, this paper describes the extent of variation of the weight distribution of individual muscles in the hindlimb of lambs of 18.9 +/- 3.1 kg carcass weight. We studied a sample of 52 ram lambs and 36 ewe lambs of different morphological types slaughtered at a comparable stage of body development (same relative state of carcass fattening). Variability in muscle weight was similar in the two sexes (average CV = 21.95% in ram lambs and 22.5% in ewe lambs) and changed from 14.84 to 43.91% in the former and from 14.91 to 41.93% in the latter. Some of the mass variability of the different muscles was related to the total muscle weight of the hindlimb, but a part was also due to intrinsic variation related to the nature of the muscles. The most discriminant variables of the population were of very low weight: Soleus (SO), Extensor digitorum lateralis (ED), Gemelli (GE) and Quadratus femoris (QF); moderately low weight: Sartorius (SA); or average weight: Vastus medialis (VM). Their order of importance was not the same in the two sexes. The breed groups could be distinguished by the weight ratio values of these muscles.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006614:Hindlimb; D008297:Male; D009132:Muscles / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D009929:Organ Size; D012737:Sex Factors; D012756:Sheep
vernacular_title: Variabilité de la répartition du tissue musculaire du membre postérieur de l'agneau. I. Muscles individuels.