Gait changes in a line of mice artificially selected for longer limbs
In legged terrestrial locomotion, the duration of stance phase, i.e., when limbs are in contact with the substrate, is positively correlated with limb length, and negatively correlated with the metabolic cost of transport. These relationships are well documented at the interspecific level, across a...
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doaj-81748c0610dc41b18df6cde8a1f9ce9b2020-11-24T22:08:54ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592017-02-015e300810.7717/peerj.3008Gait changes in a line of mice artificially selected for longer limbsLeah M. Sparrow0Emily Pellatt1Sabrina S. Yu2David A. Raichlen3Herman Pontzer4Campbell Rolian5Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, CanadaDepartment of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, CanadaCumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, CanadaSchool of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United StatesDepartment of Anthropology, City University of New York, Hunter College, New York, NY, United StatesDepartment of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, CanadaIn legged terrestrial locomotion, the duration of stance phase, i.e., when limbs are in contact with the substrate, is positively correlated with limb length, and negatively correlated with the metabolic cost of transport. These relationships are well documented at the interspecific level, across a broad range of body sizes and travel speeds. However, such relationships are harder to evaluate within species (i.e., where natural selection operates), largely for practical reasons, including low population variance in limb length, and the presence of confounding factors such as body mass, or training. Here, we compared spatiotemporal kinematics of gait in Longshanks, a long-legged mouse line created through artificial selection, and in random-bred, mass-matched Control mice raised under identical conditions. We used a gait treadmill to test the hypothesis that Longshanks have longer stance phases and stride lengths, and decreased stride frequencies in both fore- and hind limbs, compared with Controls. Our results indicate that gait differs significantly between the two groups. Specifically, and as hypothesized, stance duration and stride length are 8–10% greater in Longshanks, while stride frequency is 8% lower than in Controls. However, there was no difference in the touch-down timing and sequence of the paws between the two lines. Taken together, these data suggest that, for a given speed, Longshanks mice take significantly fewer, longer steps to cover the same distance or running time compared to Controls, with important implications for other measures of variation among individuals in whole-organism performance, such as the metabolic cost of transport.https://peerj.com/articles/3008.pdfStanceStride lengthGaitLongshanksLimb length |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Leah M. Sparrow Emily Pellatt Sabrina S. Yu David A. Raichlen Herman Pontzer Campbell Rolian |
spellingShingle |
Leah M. Sparrow Emily Pellatt Sabrina S. Yu David A. Raichlen Herman Pontzer Campbell Rolian Gait changes in a line of mice artificially selected for longer limbs PeerJ Stance Stride length Gait Longshanks Limb length |
author_facet |
Leah M. Sparrow Emily Pellatt Sabrina S. Yu David A. Raichlen Herman Pontzer Campbell Rolian |
author_sort |
Leah M. Sparrow |
title |
Gait changes in a line of mice artificially selected for longer limbs |
title_short |
Gait changes in a line of mice artificially selected for longer limbs |
title_full |
Gait changes in a line of mice artificially selected for longer limbs |
title_fullStr |
Gait changes in a line of mice artificially selected for longer limbs |
title_full_unstemmed |
Gait changes in a line of mice artificially selected for longer limbs |
title_sort |
gait changes in a line of mice artificially selected for longer limbs |
publisher |
PeerJ Inc. |
series |
PeerJ |
issn |
2167-8359 |
publishDate |
2017-02-01 |
description |
In legged terrestrial locomotion, the duration of stance phase, i.e., when limbs are in contact with the substrate, is positively correlated with limb length, and negatively correlated with the metabolic cost of transport. These relationships are well documented at the interspecific level, across a broad range of body sizes and travel speeds. However, such relationships are harder to evaluate within species (i.e., where natural selection operates), largely for practical reasons, including low population variance in limb length, and the presence of confounding factors such as body mass, or training. Here, we compared spatiotemporal kinematics of gait in Longshanks, a long-legged mouse line created through artificial selection, and in random-bred, mass-matched Control mice raised under identical conditions. We used a gait treadmill to test the hypothesis that Longshanks have longer stance phases and stride lengths, and decreased stride frequencies in both fore- and hind limbs, compared with Controls. Our results indicate that gait differs significantly between the two groups. Specifically, and as hypothesized, stance duration and stride length are 8–10% greater in Longshanks, while stride frequency is 8% lower than in Controls. However, there was no difference in the touch-down timing and sequence of the paws between the two lines. Taken together, these data suggest that, for a given speed, Longshanks mice take significantly fewer, longer steps to cover the same distance or running time compared to Controls, with important implications for other measures of variation among individuals in whole-organism performance, such as the metabolic cost of transport. |
topic |
Stance Stride length Gait Longshanks Limb length |
url |
https://peerj.com/articles/3008.pdf |
work_keys_str_mv |
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