Functional capacity of kangaroo rat hindlimbs: adaptations for locomotor performance.

ABSTRACT: Many cursorial and large hopping species are extremely efficient locomotors with various morphological adaptations believed to reduce mechanical demand and improve movement efficiency, including elongated distal limb segments. However, despite having elongated limbs, small hoppers such as desert kangaroo rats (Dipodomys deserti) are less efficient locomotors than their larger counterparts, which may be in part due to avoiding predators through explosive jumping movements. Despite potentially conflicting mechanical demands between the two movements, kangaroo rats are both excellent jumpers and attain high hopping speeds, likely due to a specialized hindlimb musculoskeletal morphology. This study combined experimental dissection data with a static analysis of muscle moment generating

SUBMITTER: Rankin JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6073650 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature