Abstract: Abstract： Objective To observe the morphological characteristic indexes of the muscle tissues from different species and to establish a discriminant equation of species identification and tried to establish a new method for species identification. Methods Three different parts of the muscle tissues, triceps brachii, biceps femoris and erector spinae from adult human corpses, triceps brachii, biceps femoris and longissimus dorsi muscle from swine, sheep and cattle reached the slaughter age, were extracted respectively （20 for each group） and deal the tissues into paraffin sections. Eleven observational indexes of the muscle tissues from adult human corpses, swine, sheep and cattle were detected. Statistical methods were used to analyze the data and a discriminant equation of species identification was established. Results Four observation indicators were screened for establishing the discriminant equation of species identification among human, swine, sheep and cattle. The accurate rate of this method for human muscle tissue identification was 90%, and for swine, sheep, and cattle muscle tissue were 80%, 100% and 80% respectively. Conclusion The morphological method provides a new method for the species identification of the muscle tissue among human, swine, sheep and cattle, and it can be used as a reference for the identification of animal species.

Key words: forensic pathology, species identification, humans, swine, sheep, cattle, muscle