Uncertainty

I'm done with Iguana 1! The forelimbs of my first iguana have been completely de-muscled and now ... well they're just kind of bone that is barely attached to anything. I finally removed all of the deep muscles - the pronator teres, supinator manus, teres major, subscapularis, and the others. It was surprising that while some of the deep muscles were quite small, the majority of them were actually larger than the superficial muscles. For example, the teres major, which is a deep muscle of the back (one of the many that originates from the scapula) weighed significantly more than the trapezius and latissimus dorsi (both superficial muscles). With regards to the brachialis/brachioradialis issue I decided that there was only one muscle there and the muscle had been named differently by the different sources. The muscle itself seems to be more similar to the human brachioradialis as it has its insertion point on the radial shaft. It may be a fusion of the two muscles. 
 
Anyway, I can now start on my second iguana. The process for this one will be the same as the first, but I believe it will go much faster due to the experience I gained with the first. Skinning will hopefully only take one day, and then there is superficial identifications and separations, pictures, and then muscle removal. I already have my muscle catalogue complete, so with the second iguana I have to check with the catalogue and ensure that they agree. If they don't, I have to make a note and take further pictures of the area even though the specimen will have already been photographed. There can actually be quite a bit of difference between different samples of the same species. It is important to remember that bodies are adaptive and everything an animal does, eats, hears, sees, etc change its body chemistry and set up. There is a muscle in the human leg that 8% of humans don't have. Don't you just love the uncertainty?
 
AA