A histochemical comparison of fibre types in the M. pectoralis and M. supracoracoideus of the great skua Catharacta skua and the herring gull Larus argentatus with reference to kleptoparasitic capabilities
Skuas, which are closely related to gulls, frequently use a specialized feeding method (kleptoparasitism) by which they rob other seabirds of their food. This paper tests the idea that skuas have evolved as specialist kleptoparasites. The fibre type composition of the M. pectoralis, M. supracoracoid...
Published in: | Journal of Zoology |
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Language: | English |
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1993
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1993.tb02623.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1469-7998.1993.tb02623.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1993.tb02623.x https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1993.tb02623.x |
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crwiley:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1993.tb02623.x 2024-06-02T08:05:16+00:00 A histochemical comparison of fibre types in the M. pectoralis and M. supracoracoideus of the great skua Catharacta skua and the herring gull Larus argentatus with reference to kleptoparasitic capabilities Caldow, R. W. G. Furness, R. W. 1993 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1993.tb02623.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1469-7998.1993.tb02623.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1993.tb02623.x https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1993.tb02623.x en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Journal of Zoology volume 229, issue 1, page 91-103 ISSN 0952-8369 1469-7998 journal-article 1993 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1993.tb02623.x 2024-05-03T10:46:46Z Skuas, which are closely related to gulls, frequently use a specialized feeding method (kleptoparasitism) by which they rob other seabirds of their food. This paper tests the idea that skuas have evolved as specialist kleptoparasites. The fibre type composition of the M. pectoralis, M. supracoracoideus and M. iliofibularis of a great skua Catharacta skua (Brünn.) and a herring gull Larus argentatus (Pontopp.) was determined by three enzyme histochemical methods commonly used for mammalian fibre classification; the reactions for alphaGPDH, NADH‐TR and mATPase activity. In both species slow fibres were present only in the M. iliofibularis, and fast twitch glycolytic fibres were not present in any of the muscles. The M. pectoralis and M. supracoracoideus of both species consisted entirely of the fast twitch oxidative‐glycolytic fibres. The overall metabolic enzyme activities of the muscles were assessed in terms of the proportions of fibres with high, intermediate and low metabolic enzyme activity. The overall levels of oxidative and glycolytic enzyme activity were significantly higher in the M. pectoralis than in the M. supracoracoideus and significantly higher in both of these than in the M. iliofibularis. This was true of both species. The oxidative and glycolytic activities of all three muscles of the great skua were significantly higher than those of the homologous muscles of the herring gull. This was particularly true of the M. pectoralis and M. supracoracoideus. It is suggested that this difference between great skuas and herring gulls enables the former to be more effective aerial kleptoparasites than the latter. Article in Journal/Newspaper Catharacta skua Great skua Wiley Online Library Journal of Zoology 229 1 91 103 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Skuas, which are closely related to gulls, frequently use a specialized feeding method (kleptoparasitism) by which they rob other seabirds of their food. This paper tests the idea that skuas have evolved as specialist kleptoparasites. The fibre type composition of the M. pectoralis, M. supracoracoideus and M. iliofibularis of a great skua Catharacta skua (Brünn.) and a herring gull Larus argentatus (Pontopp.) was determined by three enzyme histochemical methods commonly used for mammalian fibre classification; the reactions for alphaGPDH, NADH‐TR and mATPase activity. In both species slow fibres were present only in the M. iliofibularis, and fast twitch glycolytic fibres were not present in any of the muscles. The M. pectoralis and M. supracoracoideus of both species consisted entirely of the fast twitch oxidative‐glycolytic fibres. The overall metabolic enzyme activities of the muscles were assessed in terms of the proportions of fibres with high, intermediate and low metabolic enzyme activity. The overall levels of oxidative and glycolytic enzyme activity were significantly higher in the M. pectoralis than in the M. supracoracoideus and significantly higher in both of these than in the M. iliofibularis. This was true of both species. The oxidative and glycolytic activities of all three muscles of the great skua were significantly higher than those of the homologous muscles of the herring gull. This was particularly true of the M. pectoralis and M. supracoracoideus. It is suggested that this difference between great skuas and herring gulls enables the former to be more effective aerial kleptoparasites than the latter. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Caldow, R. W. G. Furness, R. W. |
spellingShingle |
Caldow, R. W. G. Furness, R. W. A histochemical comparison of fibre types in the M. pectoralis and M. supracoracoideus of the great skua Catharacta skua and the herring gull Larus argentatus with reference to kleptoparasitic capabilities |
author_facet |
Caldow, R. W. G. Furness, R. W. |
author_sort |
Caldow, R. W. G. |
title |
A histochemical comparison of fibre types in the M. pectoralis and M. supracoracoideus of the great skua Catharacta skua and the herring gull Larus argentatus with reference to kleptoparasitic capabilities |
title_short |
A histochemical comparison of fibre types in the M. pectoralis and M. supracoracoideus of the great skua Catharacta skua and the herring gull Larus argentatus with reference to kleptoparasitic capabilities |
title_full |
A histochemical comparison of fibre types in the M. pectoralis and M. supracoracoideus of the great skua Catharacta skua and the herring gull Larus argentatus with reference to kleptoparasitic capabilities |
title_fullStr |
A histochemical comparison of fibre types in the M. pectoralis and M. supracoracoideus of the great skua Catharacta skua and the herring gull Larus argentatus with reference to kleptoparasitic capabilities |
title_full_unstemmed |
A histochemical comparison of fibre types in the M. pectoralis and M. supracoracoideus of the great skua Catharacta skua and the herring gull Larus argentatus with reference to kleptoparasitic capabilities |
title_sort |
histochemical comparison of fibre types in the m. pectoralis and m. supracoracoideus of the great skua catharacta skua and the herring gull larus argentatus with reference to kleptoparasitic capabilities |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
1993 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1993.tb02623.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1469-7998.1993.tb02623.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1993.tb02623.x https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1993.tb02623.x |
genre |
Catharacta skua Great skua |
genre_facet |
Catharacta skua Great skua |
op_source |
Journal of Zoology volume 229, issue 1, page 91-103 ISSN 0952-8369 1469-7998 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1993.tb02623.x |
container_title |
Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
229 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
91 |
op_container_end_page |
103 |
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1800750064780443648 |