Functional and Morphological Variety in Trunk Muscles of Urodela

2019

Pedagogical Research

Self Cite

Today, the necessity of marine education is being stated. Especially raising awareness about biodiversity is important in marine education. Museums not only house exhibits but also have the function of storing specimens. They hold specimens not available to the public daily that can be used for educational and research purposes. Samples of creatures that are difficult to keep and of unusual organisms are often stored in museums. Also, since immersion specimens do not move, they are suitable for observation. The forms of fish are especially diverse. Observations of fish of various forms facilitate the understanding of fish morphology and awareness of biodiversity. Therefore, we conducted a marine biology course using museum fish specimens. In that course, in order to encourage learners' activeness, we implemented quizzes and organized sessions with story nature. Before the lecture, the awareness of the morphology of the fish was low. The lecture was able to make the diversity of fish form understanding. Learners actively attended, observed and deepened their understanding. Also, we were able to tell learners about the function of the museum. It was found that the use of museum specimens is beneficial for observing precious biological specimens.

Section: Observation Points and Explanationsmentioning

confidence: 71%

The Use of Museum Specimens for Marine Education

2019

Pedagogical Research

Self Cite

“…Trunk muscles were treated as 3 groups of muscles, namely the dorsal muscles, lateral hypaxial muscles and abdominal muscles, from the functions and positions according to Naylor [12] and Omura et al . [13, 14]. Dorsal muscles, lateral hypaxial muscles and abdominal muscles were examined from the cross-sectional images (Fig.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Omura et al . [13, 14] quantified the weight ratios at the middle of the trunk. They divided the trunk muscles into three components, namely dorsal muscles, lateral hypaxial muscles and abdominal muscle.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They showed that more terrestrial species possess larger dorsal muscles and a larger abdominal muscle which is separated from lateral hypaxial muscles by fascia, whereas aquatic species possess larger and thicker lateral hypaxial muscles and a smaller abdominal muscle which is not clearly separated from lateral hypaxial muscles by fascia. It was suggested that the more terrestrial species use their enlarged dorsal and abdominal muscles to stabilize the body and to sustain the animal’s own weight against gravity, whereas the aquatic species use larger lateral hypaxial muscles as powerful locomotor apparatus for lateral bending during swimming [13, 14]. …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Positional strategy of trunk muscles among aquatic, semi-aquatic and terrestrial species in Urodela

The Journal of Veterinary Medical Science

Anzai

Koyabu

et al. 2015

Self Cite

Clarification of the trunk structure in Urodela is important in understanding the locomotive evolution of basal tetrapods. The components of the muscular trunk wall among Urodela using different modes of locomotion were compared. Since the whole trunk may be used for swimming and the effect of limbs may be small in the more aquatic species, they showed smaller differences in the trunk muscles among anterior, middle and posterior sections of the trunk. By contrast, in the more terrestrial species, the dorsal and abdominal muscles are larger in the middle section than those in the anterior and posterior sections. High compressive stresses occur in the supporting limbs and their insertion at the trunk on the ventral side, and spread from the forelimbs along the back to the supporting hindlimbs on the dorsal side. Tensile stresses occur in the middle ventral part. The components of the trunk muscles among the three sections may reflect differences in stresses occurring in the trunk of the more terrestrial species. The findings also suggest that in the middle section, larger dorsal muscles for stiffening the back to maintain posture and larger abdominal muscles are responsible for balancing the body weight while it is supported by the limbs in the more terrestrial species.

“…Functional morphology clarifies the function of cephalopod shape and how their form relates to ecology. The lecturer specializes in functional morphology and comparative anatomy of aquatic life (Endo et al 2012;Omura et al 2014;Omura 2014. Therefore, to invite children to understand ecology by observing shape, we constructed courses from a functional morphological point of view.…”

Section: Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching Functional Morphology of Cephalopods During Summer Course

Current: The Journal of Marine Education

2019

Self Cite

The need for marine education has increased in Japan, and recently, many marine education programs have emerged. Fishes are very popular with children; however, children are not familiar with cephalopods. There is little opportunity for children to observe marine life from the perspective of functional morphology; hence, we offered a lecture about the functional morphology of cephalopods. The lecture incorporated a presentation and the opportunity to observe body forms. During the observation, we used suckers and arms of squid and octopus. Squid and octopus have tentacles with different types of suckers. The morphology of the suckers is related to their function and ecology. The questionnaire we administered to evaluate the lecture revealed that it was varied for both children and parents, and helped them to understand the morphology of cephalopods.