...Delyle T. Polet ABSTRACT Many quadrupedal mammals transition from a four-beat walk to a two-beat run (e.g. trot), but some transition to a four-beat run (e.g. amble). Recent analysis shows that a two-beat run minimizes work only for animals with a small pitch moment of inertia (MOI), though...

... functions of the oral vocal tract only or of the nasal vocal tract only. This indicates that the nasal and oral vocal tracts are both simultaneously involved in the production of a non-human mammal vocalization, and suggests that the potential for nasalization in putative oral loud calls should be carefully...

...Edward P. Snelling; Shane K. Maloney; Anthony P. Farrell; Leith C. R. Meyer; Adian Izwan; Andrea Fuller; Duncan Mitchell; Anna Haw; Mary-Ann Costello; Roger S. Seymour ABSTRACT The hearts of smaller mammals tend to operate at higher mass-specific mechanical work rates than those of larger mammals...

... medial ground reaction forces (lateral pushing from the animal) than would be expected for an upright mammal, suggesting frontal plane movement may be an important aspect of their locomotion. To examine this, we conducted an inverse dynamics analysis in the sagittal and frontal planes, using ground...

...Clare Stawski; Julia Nowack; Gerhard Körtner; Fritz Geiser ABSTRACT Recent work has shown that the use of torpor for energy conservation increases after forest fires in heterothermic mammals, probably in response to the reduction of food. However, the specific environmental cues for this increased...

... or behaviors are often difficult or impossible to do in the field. In this study, the energetics and kinematics of simulated tunnel locomotion by two unrelated semi-fossorial mammals, the ferret and degu, were analyzed using open-flow respirometry and digital video. Animals were trained to move inside...

..., this was significantly more pronounced in the hindlimb. The rate of force development was also significantly higher for the hindlimbs than for the forelimbs at all speeds. Mediolateral forces were significantly higher than would be expected for a large erect mammal, almost to the extent of a sprawling crocodilian...

... correlations. This approach has been successfully applied mainly to studies on birds, particularly on reproducing adults, whereas manipulations in mammals have proved more problematic. Here, we tested the hypothesis that shaving off 50% of the dorsal pelage should effectively increase energy expenditure...

... conclude that certain aspects of the facial skeleton of rabbits, and perhaps mammals in general, are sensitive to environmental stimuli long after skeletal maturity is achieved, highlighting the importance of plasticity as a source of adaptive variation at later life-history stages. * Author...

... other terrestrial mammals. Consequently, both giraffes and other large animals must contend with greater sensorimotor delays and lower innervation density in comparison to smaller animals. Because of their unconventional leg length, giraffes may experience even longer delays compared with other animals...

... mammal Soricidae Self-produced body vibrations have not yet been reported for insectivores ( Hill, 2009 ), although the chrysochlorid golden moles may use seismic waves for detecting their prey ( Mason and Narins, 2010 ). Some features of the golden mole biology, probably related...

... ). Hibernation, aestivation, temperature regulation, evaporative water loss, and heart rate of the pygmy possum, Cercartetus nanus . Physiol. Zool. 29 , 94 - 107 . Beck R. M. D. ( 2008 ). A dated phylogeny of marsupials using a molecular supermatrix and multiple fossil constraints . J. Mammal...

... by a survey of ET studies across animal taxa, including insects, crustaceans, molluscs, lizards, fish, amphibians, birds and mammals. Variability in ETs is examined in terms of ecological significance and morpho-physiological constraints. The survey shows that certain escape strategies (single ETs and highly...

... mammals, but in kangaroos the water savings would have been small and not required in a reserve with permanent standing water. We calculate that the lower core temperature could provide energy savings of nearly 7%. It is likely that the heterothermy that we observed on hot days results either from...

... morphology of the elk's vocal system. Fig. 1. (A) Relationship between body mass and average fundamental frequency( F 0 ) for non-human primate species [solid line (from Tembrock, 1996 ); 122 species considered; y =1443 x –0.623 ] and several mammals, except primates [dotted line (from Fletcher...

... The Company of Biologists Limited 2008 2008 gait limb coordination mammal quadruped speed APS Footfall patterns have been used for the rigorous identification of gaits since the 19th Century ( Marey,1873 ; Muybridge,1899 ). Symmetrical and asymmetrical gaits were later distinguished...

.... In liver, kidney, heart and brain of the ectothermic reptile, Trachydosaurus rugosus , and the endothermic mammal, Rattus norvegicus , previous findings of fewer unsaturates but a greater unsaturation index (UI) in membranes of the mammal versus those of the reptile were confirmed. Moreover, the study...

...Lina S. V. Roth; Anna Balkenius; Almut Kelber SUMMARY Most mammals have dichromatic colour vision based on two different types of cones: a short-wavelength-sensitive cone and a long-wavelength-sensitive cone. Comparing the signal from two cone types gives rise to a one-dimensional chromatic space...

... membrane wings modeled on mammalian flight mechanics . Proceedings of the 36th AIAA Fluid Dynamics Conference, June 2006. AIAA Paper 2006-2866. Reston, VA: AIAA. Jackson, S. M. ( 2000 ). Glide angle in the genus Petaurus and a review of gliding in mammals. Mammal Rev. 30 , 9 -30. Johnson...

...Daniel Schmitt; Matt Cartmill; Timothy M. Griffin; Jandy B. Hanna; Pierre Lemelin SUMMARY At speeds between the walk and the gallop, most mammals trot. Primates almost never trot, and it has been claimed that they transition directly from a walk to a gallop without any distinctive mid-speed running...