Osteological profiling of femoral diaphysis and neck in aquatic, semiaquatic, and terrestrial carnivores and rodents: effects of body size and locomotor habits.

ABSTRACT: The increased limb bone density documented previously for aquatic tetrapods has been proposed to be an adaptation to overcome buoyancy during swimming and diving. It can be achieved by increasing the amount of bone deposition or by reducing the amount of bone resorption, leading to cortical thickening, loss of medullary cavity, and compaction of trabecular bone. The present study examined the effects of locomotor habit, body size, and phylogeny on the densitometric, cross-sectional, and biomechanical traits of femoral diaphysis and neck in terrestrial, semiaquatic, and aquatic carnivores, and in terrestrial and semiaquatic rodents (12 species) by using peripheral quantitative computed tomography, three-point bending, and femoral neck loading tests. Groupwise differences were analyzed with

SUBMITTER: Nieminen P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11316726 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature