Scale effects between body size and limb design in quadrupedal mammals

dc.contributor.authorKilbourne, Brandon M.
dc.contributor.authorHoffman, Louwrens C.
dc.date.accessioned2014-02-13T14:23:06Z
dc.date.available2014-02-13T14:23:06Z
dc.date.issued2013-11
dc.descriptionPublication of this article was funded by the Stellenbosch University Open Access Fund.en_ZA
dc.descriptionThe original publication is available at http://www.plosone.org/en_ZA
dc.description.abstractRecently the metabolic cost of swinging the limbs has been found to be much greater than previously thought, raising the possibility that limb rotational inertia influences the energetics of locomotion. Larger mammals have a lower mass-specific cost of transport than smaller mammals. The scaling of the mass-specific cost of transport is partly explained by decreasing stride frequency with increasing body size; however, it is unknown if limb rotational inertia also influences the mass-specific cost of transport. Limb length and inertial properties – limb mass, center of mass (COM) position, moment of inertia, radius of gyration, and natural frequency – were measured in 44 species of terrestrial mammals, spanning eight taxonomic orders. Limb length increases disproportionately with body mass via positive allometry (length / body mass0.40); the positive allometry of limb length may help explain the scaling of the metabolic cost of transport. When scaled against body mass, forelimb inertial properties, apart from mass, scale with positive allometry. Fore- and hindlimb mass scale according to geometric similarity (limb mass / body mass1.0), as do the remaining hindlimb inertial properties. The positive allometry of limb length is largely the result of absolute differences in limb inertial properties between mammalian subgroups. Though likely detrimental to locomotor costs in large mammals, scale effects in limb inertial properties appear to be concomitant with scale effects in sensorimotor control and locomotor ability in terrestrial mammals. Across mammals, the forelimb’s potential for angular acceleration scales according to geometric similarity, whereas the hindlimb’s potential for angular acceleration scales with positive allometry.en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorshipStellenbosch Universityen_ZA
dc.description.versionPublishers' versionen_ZA
dc.format.extent18 p. : ill.
dc.identifier.citationKilbourne, B. M. & Hoffman, L. C. 2013. Scale effects between body size and limb design in quadrupedal mammals. PLoS ONE, 8(11):e78392. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0078392.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203 (print)
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203 (online)
dc.identifier.otherdoi:10.1371/journal.pone.0078392
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/86147
dc.language.isoen_ZAen_ZA
dc.publisherPLoSen_ZA
dc.rights.holderAuthors retain copyrighten_ZA
dc.subjectQuadrupedal mammals -- Locomotor abilityen_ZA
dc.subjectMammals -- Anatomyen_ZA
dc.subjectAnimal locomotionen_ZA
dc.titleScale effects between body size and limb design in quadrupedal mammalsen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
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