Effect of walking speed on the gait of king penguins: An accelerometric approach

• Published in: Journal of Theoretical Biology
• Main Authors: Willener, Astrid S.T., Handrich, Yves, Halsey, Lewis G., Strike, Siobhán
• Other Authors: Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie (DEPE-IPHC), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Life Sciences, University of Roehampton, United Kingdom, IPEV;Association Suisse des femmes diplômées des universités;The Company of Biologists;Society for experimental Biology
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2015
• Subjects: Gait; Speed; King penguins; Accelerometer; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; King Penguins
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01236737; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2015.09.019

International audience Little isknownaboutnon-humanbipedalgaits.Thisisprobablyduetothefactthatmostlargeanimalsare quadrupedalandthatnon-humanbipedalanimalsaremostlybirds,whoseprimaryformofloco-motion is flight. Verylittleresearchhasbeenconductedonpenguinpedestrianlocomotionwiththefocus insteadontheirassociatedhighenergyexpenditure.Inanimals,tri-axialaccelerometersarefre-quentlyusedtoestimatephysiologicalenergycost,aswellastodefine thebehaviourpatternofaspecies,or thekinematicsofswimming.Inthisstudy,weshowedhowanaccelerometer-basedtechniquecouldbe usedtodeterminethebiomechanicalcharacteristicsofpedestrianlocomotion.Eightkingpenguins,which representtheonlyfamilyofbirdstohaveanuprightbipedalgait,weretrainedtowalkonatreadmill. Thetrunktri-axialaccelerationswererecordedwhilethebirdwaswalkingatfourdifferentspeeds (1.0,1.2,1.4and1.6km/h),enablingtheamplitudeofdynamicbodyaccelerationalongthethreeaxes(amplitudeofDBAx, DBAy and DBAz), stridefrequency,waddlingandleaningamplitude,aswellasthe leaningangletobedefined. Themagnitudeofthemeasuredvariablesshowedasignificant increasewith increasingspeed,apartfromthebackwardsangleoflean,whichdecreasedwithincreasingspeed.The variabilityofthemeasuredvariablesalsoshowedasignificant increasewithspeedapartfromtheDBAz amplitude, thewaddlingamplitude,andtheleaningangle,wherenosignificant effectofthewalkingspeedwasfound.Thispaperisthe first approachtodescribe3Dbiomechanicswithanaccel-erometeronwildanimals,demonstratingthepotentialofthistechnique.