Oxyuranus scutellatus scutellatus toxins 1 (OS1) and 2 (OS2) are two phospholipase A2S (PLA2) isolated from the venom of the Australian Taipan snake. Their iodinated derivatives have been used to characterize PLA2 binding sites on rabbit skeletal muscle. Competition and cross-linking experiments indicate that 125I-labelled OS2 binding sites in rabbit skeletal muscle in vivo are distributed into two classes of receptors. One class binds OS2 and OS1 and is insensitive to the bee venom PLA2. It is composed of a 180 kDa binding protein. This class of PLA2 receptor is expressed at a high level in rabbit myotube membranes. The other class of PLA2 receptor identified with 125I-OS2 also binds with high affinity the bee venom PLA2 but not OS1 and is composed of major polypeptides of 34, 48 and 82 kDa. This second class of receptor is similar to the one found in brain membranes. The density of the two classes of receptors varies during muscle development.