Muscles make up about 40 percent of total body weight in most vertebrates.
Notes on verification
Multiple independent physiology sources (peer-reviewed, textbook, encyclopedic) confirm ~40% figure for humans and cite comparable percentages across vertebrates, though exact range varies (30-50%) by species and source.
Sources
- 14 Fun Facts About the Muscular System - Healthline (healthline.com)
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25294644/ (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532258/ (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/anatomy-and-physiology/muscles-vertebrates (ebsco.com)
- https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-96211-0_5 (link.springer.com)