The force needed for leg autotomy in the crab<i>Hemigrapsus nudus</i>

Prestholdt, Tara; Rager, Stephanie M.; Williams, Jake N.; Weilhoefer, Christine L.

doi:10.1080/10236244.2018.1509674

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Thus, this hypothesis can be considered one of morphological and physiological constraints. Previous studies have investigated the amount of force it takes to break an autotomy fracture plane in both vertebrates [lizards (Fox, Perea‐Fox, & Franco, ; Fox, Conder, & Smith, )] and invertebrates [damselflies (Gleason, Fudge, & Robinson, ), starfish (Marrs et al, ), crabs (Prestholdt et al, )]. However, these studies often fail to identify the amount of time it takes an organism to generate the same amount of force and assume that the amount of force required to perform autotomy positively correlates with the latency to autotomize.…”

Section: Economic Theory Of Autotomy: Predicting When An Individual Smentioning

confidence: 99%

The ecology and evolution of autotomy

2019

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Autotomy, the self-induced loss of a body part, occurs throughout Animalia. A lizard dropping its tail to escape predation is an iconic example, however, autotomy occurs in a diversity of other organisms. Octopuses can release their arms, crabs can drop their claws, and bugs can amputate their legs. The diversity of organisms that can autotomize body parts has led to a wealth of research and several taxonomically focused reviews. These reviews have played a crucial role in advancing our understanding of autotomy within their respective groups. However, because of their taxonomic focus, these reviews are constrained in their ability to enhance our understanding of autotomy. Here, we aim to synthesize research on the ecology and evolution of autotomy throughout Animalia, building a unified framework on which future studies can expand. We found that the ability to drop an appendage has evolved multiple times throughout Animalia and that once autotomy has evolved, selection appears to act on the removable appendage to increase the efficacy and/or efficiency of autotomy. This could explain why some autotomizable body parts are so elaborate (e.g. brightly coloured). We also show that there are multiple benefits, and variable costs, associated with autotomy. Given this variation, we generate an economic theory of autotomy (modified from the economic theory of escape) which makes predictions about when an individual should resort to autotomy. Finally, we show that the loss of an autotomizable appendage can have numerous consequences on population and community dynamics. By taking this broad taxonomic approach, we identified patterns of autotomy that transcend specific lineages and highlight clear directions for future research.

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Section: Economic Theory Of Autotomy: Predicting When An Individual Smentioning

confidence: 99%

The ecology and evolution of autotomy

2019

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“…Importantly, appendages that serve different functions within taxa are usually morphologically different. For instance, locomotor legs in crabs are much longer and thinner than the feeding appendages (cheliped) (Prestholdt et al, 2018). Appendages used in spiders to transfer sperm (pedipalps) are smaller than their legs (Fromhage & Schneider, 2006).…”

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confidence: 99%