Ratios, adaptations, and the differential metabolic capability of avian flight muscles

• Published in: Journal of Avian Biology
• Main Authors: Jehl, Joseph R., Henry, Annette E., Swanson, David L.
• Other Authors: the National Geographic Society, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U. S. National Science Foundation
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2014
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Fuller; Calidris canutus; Red Knot
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jav.00506; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fjav.00506; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jav.00506

The eared grebe Podiceps nigricollis shows seasonal variation in the relative size of the major flight muscles that lift and lower the wing: respectively, supracoracoideus (s) and pectoralis (p). S/p ratios are low (≈0.07–0.12) when grebes are in flying condition, higher (≈0.11–0.15) when staging an...