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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Locomotor Loading Mechanics In The Hindlimbs Of Tegu Lizards (Tupinambis Merianae): Comparative And Evolutionary Implications, K. Megan Sheffield, Michael T. Butcher, S. Katharine Shugart, Jennifer C. Gander, Richard W. Blob
Locomotor Loading Mechanics In The Hindlimbs Of Tegu Lizards (Tupinambis Merianae): Comparative And Evolutionary Implications, K. Megan Sheffield, Michael T. Butcher, S. Katharine Shugart, Jennifer C. Gander, Richard W. Blob
Academic Services Faculty and Staff Publications
Skeletal elements are usually able to withstand several times their usual load before they yield, and this ratio is known as the bone’s safety factor. Limited studies on amphibians and non-avian reptiles have shown that they have much higher limb bone safety factors than birds and mammals. It has been hypothesized that this difference is related to the difference in posture between upright birds and mammals and sprawling ectotherms; however, limb bone loading data from a wider range of sprawling species are needed in order to determine whether the higher safety factors seen in amphibians and non-avian reptiles are ancestral …
Loading Mechanics Of The Femur In Tiger Salamanders (Ambystoma Tigrinum) During Terrestrial Locomotion, K. Megan Sheffield, Richard W. Blob
Loading Mechanics Of The Femur In Tiger Salamanders (Ambystoma Tigrinum) During Terrestrial Locomotion, K. Megan Sheffield, Richard W. Blob
Academic Services Faculty and Staff Publications
Salamanders are often used as representatives of the basal tetrapod body plan in functional studies, but little is known about the loads experienced by their limb bones during locomotion. Although salamanders’ slow walking speeds might lead to low locomotor forces and limb bone stresses similar to those of non-avian reptiles, their highly sprawled posture combined with relatively small limb bones could produce elevated limb bone stresses closer to those of avian and mammalian species. This study evaluates the loads on the femur of the tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) during terrestrial locomotion using three- dimensional measurements of the ground reaction force …
Ontogenetic Change In Novel Functions: Waterfall Climbing In Adult Hawaiian Gobiid Fishes, R Blob, K M. Wright, M Becker, T Maie, T J. Iverson, M L. Julius, H L. Schoenfuss
Ontogenetic Change In Novel Functions: Waterfall Climbing In Adult Hawaiian Gobiid Fishes, R Blob, K M. Wright, M Becker, T Maie, T J. Iverson, M L. Julius, H L. Schoenfuss
Academic Services Faculty and Staff Publications
Juveniles from three species of Hawaiian gobiid fishes climb waterfalls as part of an amphidromous life cycle, allowing them to re-penetrate adult upstream habitats after being swept out to the ocean upon hatching. The importance of climbing for juvenile stream gobies is well established, but adult fish in upstream island habitats also face potential downstream displacement by periodic disturbances. Thus, retention of climbing ability could be advantageous for adult stream gobies. Climbing performance might be expected to decline among adults, however, due to the tendency for mass-specific muscular power production to decrease with body size, and a lack of positively …