Diversity of animal movement: terrestrial Flashcards
What aspects of morphology reflect adaptation for economy, endurance and speed?
Economy = distance/fuel Endurance = distance or time Speed= distance/fuel
What is terrestrial locomotion?
Locomotion on land
What is locomotion?
Expending energy to move the COM
Describe the general anatomy and morphology of terrestrial movement ?
Number of legs: Bipedal
How would you describe the movement patterns and gaits of terrestrial animal movement? (gaits)
Bipedal: walk, run, hop/jump, skip, etc
Quadrupedal: walk, trot, gallop, pace, etc.
Hexapedal: walk, alternating tripod (trot) etc.
“non-pedal”: e.g. snake: rectilinear, etc.
What are substrate properties and orientation of terrestrial movement?
Properties = soft, hard, granular etc. Orientation = horizontal, vertical
How would you describe locomotor preference of terrestrial species?
Cursorial
Scansorial
Fossorial
Aboreal
What is a selective pressure?
Any cause that reduces reproductive success in a portion of the population potentially exerts evolutionary pressure
What is a constraint?
A factor which makes a population resistant to evolutionary change
What are important concepts in the evolution of form and function?
- competition for resources = selection pressures
- survival requires economic, versitile locomotion
- natural selection = optimisation for different environments and lifestyles
- natural selection is subject to constraints and trade-offs
- optimisation is a continual process (optimal ≠ perfect)
What are features of early tetrapod locomotion?
Limited endurance and aerobic space
Short bursts of locomotion
What are morphological adaptations for endurance and speed?
Upright parasagittal limb posture
Elongated legs, reduction in distal mass
Passively stable trunk
Large body size
“springy” tendons for elastic energy cycling
What are morphological adaptations that quadrupedal mammals (ungulates) posses?
Specialists in endurance and speed
- deer, camel, horse, zebra, elephant
Swift grazing animals
Migratory
How have the distal limb bones of the equines developed?
The horse ancestor had 5 toes but as the horse has evolved the distal limb structure Before finally forming one toe (metacarpal 3) with metacarpal 2 and 4 just being residual
How are the limb structures specialised for economy and speed?
Limb posture
- plentigrade, digitigrade, unguligrade
Elongation of limb bones for speed
- motion restricted to sagittal plane
Lightening of distal limb to minimise cost of leg swing
Reduction in the number of bones
Muscles replaced by energy efficient tendons that act as pulleys and springs
