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Did a cursory search and it seems to be common wisdom that all dog breeds have the same number of bones and muscles.

While there are many differences between breeds and individual dogs, there are also common factors that link them together. For example, all breeds have an excellent sense of smell and hearing and have the same number of bones which are tied together by the same number of muscles, tendons and ligaments.

https://breedingbetterdogs.com/article/structure-and-movemen...



I’m sure 99% or more of muscles and bones are shared across the various dog breeds but humans have about as much genetic diversity as the average chimpanzee troupe and we have differences in our musculature. For dogs to be more uniform than humans given the speed and vigour of selection seems unlikely. Some breeds should lack vestigial muscles and others have them by more or less random chance.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/91022/5-muscles-you-might-be-...


Where can we find a definitive reference about dogs?


> same number of bones

This seems wrong. What about breeds with significantly different tail lengths?


Think about this: all mammals have the same number of neck vertebrae, 7, from giraffes to humans to mice, with the exception of (some)sloths and manatees.

That being said, dogs will have between 6 and 23 bones in their tails depending on length.


Would be great to find some definite information.




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