| Relating ranging ecology, limb length, and locomotor economy in terrestrial animals. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 22138093 Owner: NLM Status: Publisher |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Ecomorphological analyses have identified a number of important evolutionary trends in vertebrate limb design, but the relationships between daily travel distance, locomotor ecology, and limb length in terrestrial animals remain poorly understood. In this paper I model the net rate of energy intake as a function of foraging efficiency, and thus of locomotor economy; improved economy leads to greater net energy intake. However, the relationship between locomotor economy and net intake is highly dependent on foraging efficiency; only species with low foraging efficiencies experience strong selection pressure for improved locomotor economy and increased limb length. Examining 237 terrestrial species, I find that nearly all taxa obtain sufficiently high foraging efficiencies that selection for further increases in economy is weak. Thus selection pressures for increased economy and limb length among living terrestrial animals may be relatively weak and similar in magnitude across ecologically diverse species. The Economy Selection Pressure model for locomotor economy may be useful in investigating the evolution of limb design in early terrestrial taxa and the coevolution of foraging ecology and locomotor anatomy in lineages with low foraging efficiencies. |
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Authors:
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Herman Pontzer |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: JOURNAL ARTICLE Date: 2011-11-29 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Journal of theoretical biology Volume: - ISSN: 1095-8541 ISO Abbreviation: - Publication Date: 2011 Nov |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2011-12-5 Completed Date: - Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 0376342 Medline TA: J Theor Biol Country: - |
Other Details:
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Languages: ENG Pagination: - Citation Subset: - |
Copyright Information:
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Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd. |
Affiliation:
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Department of Anthropology, Hunter College, 728 North Building, 695 Park Ave, NY 10065, USA. |
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From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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