Waders (Scolopacidae) surviving despite malaligned leg fractures in the wild: kinematics of bipedal locomotion
Abstract Background Bone fracture frequencies and survival rates are essential parameters in skeleton evolution, but information on the functional consequences of naturally healed fractures is scarce. No leg bone fracture healing in the wild has been reported so far from long-legged Charadriiformes...
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ftdatacite:10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3870754 2023-05-15T17:47:18+02:00 Waders (Scolopacidae) surviving despite malaligned leg fractures in the wild: kinematics of bipedal locomotion Reichert, Jessica Mayr, Gerald Wilke, Thomas Peters, Winfried 2017 https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3870754 https://springernature.figshare.com/collections/Waders_Scolopacidae_surviving_despite_malaligned_leg_fractures_in_the_wild_kinematics_of_bipedal_locomotion/3870754 unknown figshare https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40657-017-0082-5 CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 CC-BY Medicine Cell Biology Sociology FOS Sociology Cancer Science Policy Collection article 2017 ftdatacite https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3870754 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-017-0082-5 2021-11-05T12:55:41Z Abstract Background Bone fracture frequencies and survival rates are essential parameters in skeleton evolution, but information on the functional consequences of naturally healed fractures is scarce. No leg bone fracture healing in the wild has been reported so far from long-legged Charadriiformes (waders), which depend on bipedal locomotion for feeding. Methods We documented a healed but malaligned tarsometatarsus fracture in a wild Willet (Tringa [Catoptrophorus] semipalmata), and a malaligned tibiotarsus fracture in a Curlew (Numenius arquata) skeleton from a museum collection. Functional consequences of the malalignments were evaluated by kinematic analyses of videos (Willet) and in silico 3D modeling (Curlew). Results The Willetâ s left tarsometatarsus exhibited an angular malalignment of 70°, resulting in a limping gait that was less pronounced at high than at low walking speed. The bird seemed unable to club the toes of the left foot together, apparently a secondary effect of the deformity. The Curlewâ s tibiotarsus showed an angular and an axial malalignment, causing the foot to rotate outwards when the intertarsal joint was flexed. Despite the severe effects of their injuries, the birds had survived at least long enough for the fractures to heal completely. Conclusions Somewhat unexpectedly, leg fractures are not necessarily fatal in long-legged waders, even if deformities occur in the healing process. Bipedal locomotion on vegetated grounds must have been impeded due to the bone malalignments in both analyzed cases. The birds probably alleviated the impact of their handicaps by shifting a larger proportion of their activities to vegetation-free habitats. Article in Journal/Newspaper Numenius arquata DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) |
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collection |
DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) |
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unknown |
topic |
Medicine Cell Biology Sociology FOS Sociology Cancer Science Policy |
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Medicine Cell Biology Sociology FOS Sociology Cancer Science Policy Reichert, Jessica Mayr, Gerald Wilke, Thomas Peters, Winfried Waders (Scolopacidae) surviving despite malaligned leg fractures in the wild: kinematics of bipedal locomotion |
topic_facet |
Medicine Cell Biology Sociology FOS Sociology Cancer Science Policy |
description |
Abstract Background Bone fracture frequencies and survival rates are essential parameters in skeleton evolution, but information on the functional consequences of naturally healed fractures is scarce. No leg bone fracture healing in the wild has been reported so far from long-legged Charadriiformes (waders), which depend on bipedal locomotion for feeding. Methods We documented a healed but malaligned tarsometatarsus fracture in a wild Willet (Tringa [Catoptrophorus] semipalmata), and a malaligned tibiotarsus fracture in a Curlew (Numenius arquata) skeleton from a museum collection. Functional consequences of the malalignments were evaluated by kinematic analyses of videos (Willet) and in silico 3D modeling (Curlew). Results The Willetâ s left tarsometatarsus exhibited an angular malalignment of 70°, resulting in a limping gait that was less pronounced at high than at low walking speed. The bird seemed unable to club the toes of the left foot together, apparently a secondary effect of the deformity. The Curlewâ s tibiotarsus showed an angular and an axial malalignment, causing the foot to rotate outwards when the intertarsal joint was flexed. Despite the severe effects of their injuries, the birds had survived at least long enough for the fractures to heal completely. Conclusions Somewhat unexpectedly, leg fractures are not necessarily fatal in long-legged waders, even if deformities occur in the healing process. Bipedal locomotion on vegetated grounds must have been impeded due to the bone malalignments in both analyzed cases. The birds probably alleviated the impact of their handicaps by shifting a larger proportion of their activities to vegetation-free habitats. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Reichert, Jessica Mayr, Gerald Wilke, Thomas Peters, Winfried |
author_facet |
Reichert, Jessica Mayr, Gerald Wilke, Thomas Peters, Winfried |
author_sort |
Reichert, Jessica |
title |
Waders (Scolopacidae) surviving despite malaligned leg fractures in the wild: kinematics of bipedal locomotion |
title_short |
Waders (Scolopacidae) surviving despite malaligned leg fractures in the wild: kinematics of bipedal locomotion |
title_full |
Waders (Scolopacidae) surviving despite malaligned leg fractures in the wild: kinematics of bipedal locomotion |
title_fullStr |
Waders (Scolopacidae) surviving despite malaligned leg fractures in the wild: kinematics of bipedal locomotion |
title_full_unstemmed |
Waders (Scolopacidae) surviving despite malaligned leg fractures in the wild: kinematics of bipedal locomotion |
title_sort |
waders (scolopacidae) surviving despite malaligned leg fractures in the wild: kinematics of bipedal locomotion |
publisher |
figshare |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3870754 https://springernature.figshare.com/collections/Waders_Scolopacidae_surviving_despite_malaligned_leg_fractures_in_the_wild_kinematics_of_bipedal_locomotion/3870754 |
genre |
Numenius arquata |
genre_facet |
Numenius arquata |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40657-017-0082-5 |
op_rights |
CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3870754 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-017-0082-5 |
_version_ |
1766151680398721024 |