Early ontogeny of locomotor behaviour: a comparison between altricial and precocial animals

Muir, Gillian D.

doi:10.1016/s0361-9230(00)00404-4

Cited by 84 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…In birds, large hind limbs assist in take-off (Earls 2000) but add mass and increase drag during aerial locomotion; large wings may similarly encumber running performance. The ontogeny of avian walking and running on level ground has been studied in detail only in domestic chickens, which can walk hours after hatching, but take 6-7 days to achieve adultlike hind-limb kinetics (Muir et al 1996;Muir 2000). The development of flapping escape performance in birds is thus poorly understood (Dial et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Precocial development of locomotor performance in a ground-dwelling bird (Alectoris chukar): negotiating a three-dimensional terrestrial environment

2009

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Developing animals are particularly vulnerable to predation. Hence, precocial young of many taxa develop predator escape performance that rivals that of adults. Ontogenetically unique among vertebrates, birds transition from hind limb to forelimb dependence for escape behaviours, so developmental investment for immediate gains in running performance may impair flight performance later. Here, in a three-dimensional kinematic study of developing birds performing pre-flight flapping locomotor behaviours, wing-assisted incline running (WAIR) and a newly described behaviour, controlled flapping descent (CFD), we define three stages of locomotor ontogeny in a model gallinaceous bird (Alectoris chukar). In stage I (1 -7 days post-hatching (dph)) birds crawl quadrupedally during ascents, and their flapping fails to reduce their acceleration during aerial descents. Stage II (8 -19 dph) birds use symmetric wing beats during WAIR, and in CFD significantly reduce acceleration while controlling body pitch to land on their feet. In stage III (20 dph to adults), birds are capable of vertical WAIR and level-powered flight. In contrast to altricial species, which first fly when nearly at adult mass, we show that in a precocial bird the major requirements for flight (i.e. high power output, wing control and wing size) convene by around 8 dph (at ca 5% of adult mass) and yield significant gains in escape performance: immature chukars can fly by 20 dph, at only about 12 per cent of adult mass.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Precocial development of locomotor performance in a ground-dwelling bird (Alectoris chukar): negotiating a three-dimensional terrestrial environment

2009

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“…A new experimental set-up allowed us to study the age at the onset of flight in drones on a large scale. Locomotor activity is in general also believed to be a measure of maturation rate (Muir 2000). Locomotor activity directly after emergence reflects the maturation process prior to emergence.…”

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confidence: 99%

Male behavioural maturation rate responds to selection on pollen hoarding in honeybees

2006

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Division of labour in social insect colonies relies on behavioural functional differentiation (specialization) of individuals with similar genomes. However, individual behavioural traits do not evolve independently of each other (behavioural syndromes). A prime example is the suite of behavioural differences in honeybee workers that has evolved in response to bidirectional selection on pollen hoarding of honeybee colonies (pollen-hoarding syndrome). More generally, these differences reflect functional differentiation between nectar and pollen foragers. We demonstrate here that this pollen-hoarding syndrome extends to drones. Similar to what has been shown in workers, drones from the high-pollen-hoarding strain had a higher locomotion activity after emergence, and they initiated flight earlier than did males derived from the low-pollen-hoarding strain, with hybrids intermediate. However, these two behavioural traits were unlinked at the individual level. We also found that social environment (the colony) affects the age at which drones initiate flight. The indirect selection responses of male behaviour suggest that male and worker evolution are not independent and may constrain each other's evolution. Furthermore, we identified three distinct peaks in the probability of flight initiation over the course of the experiment and a decreased phenotypic variability in the 'hybrid' males, contrary to quantitative genetic expectations.Social insects owe much of their evolutionary success to the coordinated action of behaviourally specialized members of their colonies (Oster & Wilson 1978; Winston 1987;Hölldobler & Wilson 1990). Division of labour is a hallmark of social evolution (Beshers & Fewell 2001), and among honeybee workers, it is mainly determined by age and genetic effects (Winston 1987). To promote individual specialization, the response thresholds to different task stimuli should vary independently among individuals (Beshers & Fewell 2001). This seems not to be the case: honeybees show well-established behavioural differences among races that extend to multiple behavioural phenotypes, as well as to morphology and life history (Winston 1987). Similar multiple behavioural phenotypes in honeybees are also correlated at the individual level (Page & Erber 2002;Pankiw 2003;Scheiner et al. 2004), indicating their evolution as behavioural syndromes (array of correlated behavioural characteristics: Sih et al. 2004). Linked sets of behavioural traits may have arisen through adaptation in certain contexts (Amdam et al. 2004), but the correlation among behavioural traits may constrain the division of labour in social insects, and behavioural optimization in general (Price & Langen 1992;Sih et al. 2004 One of the best-studied examples of behavioural syndromes in insects is the behavioural differentiation among workers of two strains of honeybees that have been bidirectionally selected over multiple generations for different amounts of pollen stored in their nests . Many different aspects of foraging behaviour Wadd...

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“…These transitions are in part associated with neurological maturation (Muir, 2000), but there is also evidence that limb phases preferred by juveniles compensate for growth-related changes in limb proportions or the position of the body's center of mass (Hildebrand, 1967;Rollinson and Martin, 1981;Peters, 1983;Blumberg-Feldman and Eilam, 1995;Shapiro and Raichlen, 2006). For example, at growth stages associated with increases in relative hindlimb length, kittens as well as infant baboons have been shown to shift to a LSLC walking gait (i.e.…”

Section: Age Affects Quadrupedal Kinematics In P Brevicepsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even the one significant difference observed (adults used significantly greater relative stride lengths than juveniles across all substrates) was opposite in direction to that predicted. It is possible that juveniles used relatively short strides compared with adults as a means to reduce vertical fluctuations of the body's center of mass (Muir et al, 1996;Muir, 2000;Delciellos and Vieira, 2007), but the lack of significant differences in relative stride length between juveniles and adults on poles alone, or in relative stride frequency across any substrate, weakens this hypothesis.…”

Section: Age Affects Quadrupedal Kinematics In P Brevicepsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kinematics of quadrupedal locomotion in sugar gliders (Petaurus breviceps): effects of age and substrate size

Shapiro

Young

2012

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARY Arboreal mammals face unique challenges to locomotor stability. This is particularly true with respect to juveniles, who must navigate substrates similar to those traversed by adults, despite a reduced body size and neuromuscular immaturity. Kinematic differences exhibited by juveniles and adults on a given arboreal substrate could therefore be due to differences in body size relative to substrate size, to differences in neuromuscular development, or to both. We tested the effects of relative body size and age on quadrupedal kinematics in a small arboreal marsupial (the sugar glider, Petaurus breviceps; body mass range of our sample 33-97 g). Juvenile and adult P. breviceps were filmed moving across a flat board and three poles 2.5, 1.0 and 0.5 cm in diameter. Sugar gliders (regardless of age or relative speed) responded to relative decreases in substrate diameter with kinematic adjustments that promote stability; they increased duty factor, increased the average number of supporting limbs during a stride, increased relative stride length and decreased relative stride frequency. Limb phase increased when moving from the flat board to the poles, but not among poles. Compared with adults, juveniles (regardless of relative body size or speed) used lower limb phases, more pronounced limb flexion, and enhanced stability with higher duty factors and a higher average number of supporting limbs during a stride. We conclude that although substrate variation in an arboreal environment presents similar challenges to all individuals, regardless of age or absolute body size, neuromuscular immaturity confers unique problems to growing animals, requiring kinematic compensation.

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Early ontogeny of locomotor behaviour: a comparison between altricial and precocial animals

Cited by 84 publications

References 78 publications

Precocial development of locomotor performance in a ground-dwelling bird (Alectoris chukar): negotiating a three-dimensional terrestrial environment

Precocial development of locomotor performance in a ground-dwelling bird (Alectoris chukar): negotiating a three-dimensional terrestrial environment

Male behavioural maturation rate responds to selection on pollen hoarding in honeybees

Kinematics of quadrupedal locomotion in sugar gliders (Petaurus breviceps): effects of age and substrate size

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