Understanding sex differences in the cost of terrestrial locomotion
Little is known regarding the physiological consequences of the behavioural and morphological differences that result from sexual selection in birds. Male and female Svalbard rock ptarmigans (Lagopus muta hyperborea) exhibit distinctive behavioural differences during the breeding season. In particul...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3248738 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21849317 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.1334 |
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:3248738 2023-05-15T17:06:23+02:00 Understanding sex differences in the cost of terrestrial locomotion Lees, John J. Nudds, Robert L. Folkow, Lars P. Stokkan, Karl-Arne Codd, Jonathan R. 2012-02-22 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3248738 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21849317 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.1334 en eng The Royal Society http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3248738 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21849317 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.1334 This journal is © 2011 The Royal Society Research Articles Text 2012 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.1334 2013-09-04T00:37:29Z Little is known regarding the physiological consequences of the behavioural and morphological differences that result from sexual selection in birds. Male and female Svalbard rock ptarmigans (Lagopus muta hyperborea) exhibit distinctive behavioural differences during the breeding season. In particular, males continuously compete for and defend territories in order to breed successfully, placing large demands on their locomotor system. Here, we demonstrate that male birds have improved locomotor performance compared with females, showing both a lower cost of locomotion (CoL) and a higher top speed. We propose that the observed sex differences in locomotor capability may be due to sexual selection for improved male performance. While the mechanisms underlying these energetic differences are unclear, future studies should be wary when pooling male and female data. Text Lagopus muta Lagopus muta hyperborea Svalbard PubMed Central (PMC) Svalbard Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 279 1729 826 832 |
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PubMed Central (PMC) |
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English |
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Research Articles |
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Research Articles Lees, John J. Nudds, Robert L. Folkow, Lars P. Stokkan, Karl-Arne Codd, Jonathan R. Understanding sex differences in the cost of terrestrial locomotion |
topic_facet |
Research Articles |
description |
Little is known regarding the physiological consequences of the behavioural and morphological differences that result from sexual selection in birds. Male and female Svalbard rock ptarmigans (Lagopus muta hyperborea) exhibit distinctive behavioural differences during the breeding season. In particular, males continuously compete for and defend territories in order to breed successfully, placing large demands on their locomotor system. Here, we demonstrate that male birds have improved locomotor performance compared with females, showing both a lower cost of locomotion (CoL) and a higher top speed. We propose that the observed sex differences in locomotor capability may be due to sexual selection for improved male performance. While the mechanisms underlying these energetic differences are unclear, future studies should be wary when pooling male and female data. |
format |
Text |
author |
Lees, John J. Nudds, Robert L. Folkow, Lars P. Stokkan, Karl-Arne Codd, Jonathan R. |
author_facet |
Lees, John J. Nudds, Robert L. Folkow, Lars P. Stokkan, Karl-Arne Codd, Jonathan R. |
author_sort |
Lees, John J. |
title |
Understanding sex differences in the cost of terrestrial locomotion |
title_short |
Understanding sex differences in the cost of terrestrial locomotion |
title_full |
Understanding sex differences in the cost of terrestrial locomotion |
title_fullStr |
Understanding sex differences in the cost of terrestrial locomotion |
title_full_unstemmed |
Understanding sex differences in the cost of terrestrial locomotion |
title_sort |
understanding sex differences in the cost of terrestrial locomotion |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3248738 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21849317 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.1334 |
geographic |
Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Svalbard |
genre |
Lagopus muta Lagopus muta hyperborea Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Lagopus muta Lagopus muta hyperborea Svalbard |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3248738 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21849317 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.1334 |
op_rights |
This journal is © 2011 The Royal Society |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.1334 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
279 |
container_issue |
1729 |
container_start_page |
826 |
op_container_end_page |
832 |
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1766061505549172736 |