In competition experiments with the tertiary radioligand [3H]dexetimide, classical quaternary muscarinic antagonists like ipratropium bromide and N-methylscopolamine bromide distinguished two muscarinic binding sites in bovine brain (total brain minus cerebellum) membranes, in contrast to their tertiary analogues, atropine and scopolamine, which recognized only one binding site. This binding behavior was found to be almost identical in bovine striatal membranes, both in terms of binding affinities and proportions of high (Q1) and low (Q2) affinity binding sites. Both in total brain and in striatal membranes, the Q1/Q2 binding heterogeneity was independent of pirenzepine binding heterogeneity (M1/M2). In peripheral tissues, the binding properties of quaternary muscarinic antagonists varied. Whereas tertiary as well as quaternary compounds showed only high affinity binding towards muscarinic receptors in bovine atrial and left ventricular membranes, heterogeneous binding behavior was observed with quaternary but not with tertiary antagonists in bovine tracheal smooth muscle membranes. The tissue distribution found in the present study suggests that bovine tracheal smooth muscle contraction studies might shed light on the functional significance of the anomalous binding behavior of quaternary muscarinic antagonists.