Forelimb kinematics during swimming in the pig-nosed turtle, Carettochelys insculpta, compared with other turtle taxa: rowing versus flapping, convergence versus intermediacy.

ABSTRACT: Animals that swim using appendages do so by way of rowing and/or flapping motions. Often considered discrete categories, rowing and flapping are more appropriately regarded as points along a continuum. The pig-nosed turtle, Carettochelys insculpta, is unusual in that it is the only freshwater turtle to have limbs modified into flippers and swim via synchronous forelimb motions that resemble dorsoventral flapping, traits that evolved independently from their presence in sea turtles. We used high-speed videography to quantify forelimb kinematics in C. insculpta and a closely related, highly aquatic rower (Apalone ferox). Comparisons of our new data with those previously collected for a generalized freshwater rower (Trachemys scripta) and a flapping sea turtle (Caretta caretta) allow us to: (

SUBMITTER: Rivera AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3561774 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature