Vertebral morphology in the tail-whipping common thresher shark, Alopias vulpinus.

ABSTRACT: Thresher sharks (Alopias spp.) are characterized by an elongated, scythe-like caudal fin that is used in tail-whipping, a behaviour where the tail is thrown overhead to stun prey. Tail-whipping is performed via extreme dorsoventral bending of the vertebral column, and is dramatically different from lateral oscillatory motion used for swimming. Previous work has examined thresher shark vertebral morphology and mechanical properties, but in the context of swimming loads. Our goal was to assess centra morphometrics and microarchitecture for variations that may support extreme dorsoventral bending. We examined anterior and posterior body vertebrae from an embryo, five juvenile, and four adult thresher sharks using micro-computed tomography. We used principal component and landmark analy

SUBMITTER: Knaub JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10762434 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature