Limb, joint and pelvic kinematic control in the quail coping with steps upwards and downwards.

ABSTRACT: Small cursorial birds display remarkable walking skills and can negotiate complex and unstructured terrains with ease. The neuromechanical control strategies necessary to adapt to these challenging terrains are still not well understood. Here, we analyzed the 2D- and 3D pelvic and leg kinematic strategies employed by the common quail to negotiate visible steps (upwards and downwards) of about 10%, and 50% of their leg length. We used biplanar fluoroscopy to accurately describe joint positions in three dimensions and performed semi-automatic landmark localization using deep learning. Quails negotiated the vertical obstacles without major problems and rapidly regained steady-state locomotion. When coping with step upwards, the quail mostly adapted the trailing limb to permit the leading leg

SUBMITTER: Andrada E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9508109 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature