Allometric, Phylogenetic, and Adaptive Components of Climbing Performance in Seven Species of Didelphid Marsupials

Delciellos, Ana Cláudia; Vieira, Marcus Vinícius

doi:10.1644/07-mamm-a-115.1

Cited by 26 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…As in previous studies of snakes (Astley and Jayne, 2007) and diverse limbed animals (Losos and Sinervo, 1989;Delciellos and Vieira, 2009), substrate diameter had profound effects on locomotor performance. In many lizards (Sinervo, 1991;Losos and Irshick, 1996;Irshick and Losos, 1999) and some mammals (Delciellos and Vieira, 2009), maximum speed decreases with decreased perch diameter.…”

Section: Locomotor Mode and Performancesupporting

confidence: 71%

“…In many lizards (Sinervo, 1991;Losos and Irshick, 1996;Irshick and Losos, 1999) and some mammals (Delciellos and Vieira, 2009), maximum speed decreases with decreased perch diameter. By contrast, Astley and Jayne (Astley and Jayne, 2007) found that for North American rat snakes, moving both horizontally and uphill, speed decreases with increased cylinder diameter.…”

Section: Locomotor Mode and Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

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Substrate diameter and compliance affect the gripping strategies and locomotor mode of climbing boa constrictors

Byrnes

Jayne

2010

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYArboreal habitats pose unique challenges for locomotion as a result of their narrow cylindrical surfaces and discontinuities between branches. Decreased diameter of branches increases compliance, which can pose additional challenges, including effects on stability and energy damping. However, the combined effects of substrate diameter and compliance are poorly understood for any animal. We quantified performance, kinematics and substrate deformation while boa constrictors (Boa constrictor) climbed vertical ropes with three diameters (3, 6 and 9mm) and four tensions (0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 body weights). Mean forward velocity decreased significantly with both decreased diameter and increased compliance. Both diameter and compliance had numerous effects on locomotor kinematics, but diameter had larger and more pervasive effects than compliance. Locomotion on the largest diameter had a larger forward excursion per cycle, and the locomotor mode and gripping strategy differed from that on the smaller diameters. On larger diameters, snakes primarily applied opposing forces at the same location on the rope to grip. By contrast, on smaller diameters forces were applied in opposite directions at different locations along the rope, resulting in increased rope deformation. Although energy is likely to be lost during deformation, snakes might use increased surface deformation as a strategy to enhance their ability to grip. Supplementary material available online at

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Section: Locomotor Mode and Performancesupporting

confidence: 71%

Section: Locomotor Mode and Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Substrate diameter and compliance affect the gripping strategies and locomotor mode of climbing boa constrictors

Byrnes

Jayne

2010

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…There is a direct relationship between body mass and the use of arboreal strata (CharlesDominique et al 1981), and differences in body size alone limit the climbing behaviour and performance of didelphids (Vieira 1997, Delciellos & Vieira 2006, 2009a, 2009b. However, Caluromys philander uses preferentially the canopy in spite of being more than twice the body size of Marmosops incanus, also arboreal but restricted to the understory (Julien-Laferrière 1991, Cunha & Vieira 2002, Loretto & Vieira 2008, Dalloz et al 2012.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A diagonal sequence on the ground was used by Didelphis virginiana only when individuals started to run (McManus 1970). Information on postural behaviour along thin arboreal supports may allow understanding the mechanisms behind the higher performance of arboreal didelphids climbing thin supports (Delciellos & Vieira 2009a). However, such information is still lacking for most didelphids.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Postural Climbing Behaviour of Didelphid Marsupials: Parallels With Primates

2016

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Differences in body size and in the use of arboreal strata limit the climbing behaviour and performance of didelphids. Similarly to primates, the arboreal canopy dweller, Caluromys philander exhibits a diagonal-sequence gait. In contrast, terrestrial didelphids use a symmetrical lateral sequence in horizontal locomotion. Postural behaviour along thin supports may allow understanding the mechanisms behind the higher performance of arboreal didelphids climbing. Here in, we describe and compare gait sequence and postural behaviour of seven didelphids climbing a slender and flexible vertical support. Animals were stimulated to climb a vertical support of 1.25 cm diameter. Postural behaviour was qualitatively described for each species in the cycle of maximum velocity by a frame-by-frame analysis of gait cycles, evaluating (1) movements of the tail, (2) posture of hand and wrist when grasping, (3) distance of the body to the support, (4) lateral swinging of the body, (5) orientation of the head, (6) limb posture, and (7) stride cycle. Only arboreal species were capable of climbing with only two limbs grasping the support, keeping a straight body orientation at some distance from the support, and sustaining a more constant and regular climbing velocity. The tail played a role in didelphids with better climbing performance (i.e., higher relative velocity), counteracting the lateral swinging of the body, helping with the animal balance. However, the prehensile ability of the tail was not used in climbing. The most stunning result is that all didelphids grasped the rope between digits 2-3, a schizaxonic grasp, involving a neutral hand orientation regarding the ulna. The didelphids protracted the humerus at forelimb touchdown, and the angle between the arm and the horizontal body axis was greater than 90°. The same postures were already observed in horizontal locomotion of C. philander, Monodelphis domestica, and primates. Locomotory and postural adaptations for an arboreal lifestyle in didelphids seem to be limited to small to medium body sizes, up to the size of species of Caluromys. The arboreal locomotion of didelphids is an important key to understand adaptation and evolution of mammals to an arboreal niche, and the comparison with small primates may help to identify adaptive convergence to arboreal locomotion.

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“…Glironia, Caluromys and Caluromysiops (Voss and Jansa, 2009)] exhibit arboreal habits and specializations (Nowak, 1991). However, although retaining features such as grasping feet and a prehensile tail, D. virginiana and the other opossum genera to which it is most closely related [Philander and Lutreolina (Voss and Jansa, 2009)] are primarily terrestrial rather than arboreal (Jenkins, 1971a;Nowak, 1991;Delciellos and Vieira, 2006;Delciellos and Vieira, 2009). As a result of this convergence back to terrestrial habits, D. virginiana may not represent the specific 'intermediate' between the locomotor patterns of non-avian reptiles and cursorial mammals, but they provide a functional analog of such an intermediate that is appropriate for comparison to other lineages in which limb bone loading has been evaluated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In vivostrains in the femur of the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) during terrestrial locomotion: testing hypotheses of evolutionary shifts in mammalian bone loading and design

Butcher

White

Hudzik

et al. 2011

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYTerrestrial locomotion can impose substantial loads on vertebrate limbs. Previous studies have shown that limb bones from cursorial species of eutherian mammals experience high bending loads with minimal torsion, whereas the limb bones of nonavian reptiles (and amphibians) exhibit considerable torsion in addition to bending. It has been hypothesized that these differences in loading regime are related to the difference in limb posture between upright mammals and sprawling reptiles, and that the loading patterns observed in non-avian reptiles may be ancestral for tetrapod vertebrates. To evaluate whether noncursorial mammals show loading patterns more similar to those of sprawling lineages, we measured in vivo strains in the femur during terrestrial locomotion of the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), a marsupial that uses more crouched limb posture than most mammals from which bone strains have been recorded, and which belongs to a clade phylogenetically between reptiles and the eutherian mammals studied previously. The presence of substantial torsion in the femur of opossums, similar to nonavian reptiles, would suggest that this loading regime likely reflects an ancestral condition for tetrapod limb bone design. Strain recordings indicate the presence of both bending and appreciable torsion (shear strain: 419.1±212.8e) in the opossum femur, with planar strain analyses showing neutral axis orientations that placed the lateral aspect of the femur in tension at the time of peak strains. Such mediolateral bending was unexpected for a mammal running with near-parasagittal limb kinematics. Shear strains were similar in magnitude to peak compressive axial strains, with opossum femora experiencing similar bending loads but higher levels of torsion compared with most previously studied mammals. Analyses of peak femoral strains led to estimated safety factor ranges of 5.1-7.2 in bending and 5.5-7.3 in torsion, somewhat higher than typical mammalian values for bending, but approaching typical reptilian values for shear. Loading patterns of opossum limb bones therefore appear intermediate in some respects between those of eutherian mammals and non-avian reptiles, providing further support for hypotheses that high torsion and elevated limb bone safety factors may represent persistent ancestral conditions in the evolution of tetrapod limb bone loading and design.Supplementary material available online at

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Allometric, Phylogenetic, and Adaptive Components of Climbing Performance in Seven Species of Didelphid Marsupials

Cited by 26 publications

References 26 publications

Substrate diameter and compliance affect the gripping strategies and locomotor mode of climbing boa constrictors

Substrate diameter and compliance affect the gripping strategies and locomotor mode of climbing boa constrictors

Postural Climbing Behaviour of Didelphid Marsupials: Parallels With Primates

In vivostrains in the femur of the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) during terrestrial locomotion: testing hypotheses of evolutionary shifts in mammalian bone loading and design

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