| Tetrapods have flexor tendons in the palmar surface of the manus that transmit forces generated by superficial and deep forearm muscles to the digits. Two patterns ("P" and "L") of tendinous connections among the deep layer of the forearm muscles and the digits have been described, one of which (pattern P) shows an empirical correlation with some grade of arboreality. In this article, we focused on the anatomical design of the tendons of the deep layer of the palmar surface of the didelphid manus, and associated muscles. Our objectives are: (1) to describe the pattern found in all taxa of the great didelphid clade, (2) to assign the designs that we found to the L or P pattern, and (3) to discuss our results in the context of the latest available... |
