Forelimb kinematics and motor patterns of the slider turtle (Trachemys scripta) during swimming and walking: shared and novel strategies for meeting locomotor demands of water and land.

ABSTRACT: Turtles use their limbs during both aquatic and terrestrial locomotion, but water and land impose dramatically different physical requirements. How must musculoskeletal function be adjusted to produce locomotion through such physically disparate habitats? We addressed this question by quantifying forelimb kinematics and muscle activity during aquatic and terrestrial locomotion in a generalized freshwater turtle, the red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta), using digital high-speed video and electromyography (EMG). Comparisons of our forelimb data to previously collected data from the slider hindlimb allow us to test whether limb muscles with similar functional roles show qualitatively similar modulations of activity across habitats. The different functional demands of water and air lead to a

SUBMITTER: Rivera AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2948476 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature