Shape variation in the limb long bones of modern elephants reveals adaptations to body mass and habitat.

ABSTRACT: During evolution, several vertebrate lineages have shown trends towards an increase in mass. Such a trend is associated with physiological and musculoskeletal changes necessary to carry and move an increasingly heavy body. Due to their prominent role in the support and movement of the body, limb long bones are highly affected by these shifts in body mass. Elephants are the heaviest living terrestrial mammals, displaying unique features allowing them to withstand their massive weight, such as the columnarity of their limbs, and as such are crucial to understand the evolution towards high body mass in land mammals. In this study, we investigate the shape variation of the six limb long bones among the modern elephants, Elephas maximus and Loxodonta africana, to understand the effect of body m

SUBMITTER: Bader C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10093169 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature