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Differences in muscle spindle structure between pigeon muscles used in aerial and terrestrial locomotion.

Muscle spindle density (number of spindles per gram of muscle) of all 29 muscles of the forearm and leg of the domestic pigeon was evaluated by counting receptors in van Gieson-stained serial cross sections. Extra- and intra-fusal fiber-type profiles were determined from histochemical preparations. Muscles of the leg had on the average significantly more avian slow-twitch oxidative extrafusal fibers (22.5 vs. 0.8%) and slower contraction times than muscles of the forearm, but fiber-type profiles and gross actions of muscles showed no consistent relation to the relative abundance of receptors. Differences in intrafusal fiber-type composition among spindles were sought because of their potential effect on the quality of the afferent discharge. The number of intrafusal fibers per spindle was on the average significantly less (4.57 vs 5.99) in the muscles of the leg than in those of the forearm; and of spindles with the same number of intrafusal fibers, those in the leg had smaller periaxial spaces. Distribution of intrafusal fiber types identified with the myofibrillar adenosine triphosphatase reaction differed among spindles of varying sizes. An acid- and alkali-labile type occurred most frequently (P = 0.05) in spindles with one to three intrafusal fibers, and an acid-labile and alkali-stable type was most often seen (P = 0.05) in spindles with 4 to 7 intrafusal fibers. The smaller receptors were more abundant in the leg, while the larger ones were about equally distributed between the two extremities. Muscle fibers with dimensions that sometimes approached small extrafusal fibers were present in about 3% of the axial bundles examined, most of them in the forearm. The selective morphological variation of avian muscle spindles may represent the structural basis for qualitatively different afferent discharges that relate to the characteristic types of locomotion served by the two extremities.