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The impact of pelvic lateral rotation on hindlimb kinematics and stride length in the red-legged running frog, Kassina maculata

Collings, Amber J.; Porro, Laura B.; Hill, Cameron; Richards, Christopher T.

The impact of pelvic lateral rotation on hindlimb kinematics and stride length in the red-legged running frog, Kassina maculata Thumbnail


Authors

Laura B. Porro

Cameron Hill

Christopher T. Richards



Abstract

Some frog species, such as Kassina maculata (red-legged running frog), use an asynchronous walking/running gait as their primary locomotor mode. Prior comparative anatomy work has suggested that lateral rotation of the pelvis improves walking performance by increasing hindlimb stride length; however, this hypothesis has never been tested. Using non-invasive methods, experimental high-speed video data collected from eight animals were used to create two three-dimensional kinematic models. These models, each fixed to alternative local anatomical reference frames, were used to investigate the hypothesis that lateral rotation of the mobile ilio-sacral joint in the anuran pelvis plays a propulsive role in walking locomotion by increasing hindlimb stride length. All frogs used a walking gait (duty factor greater than 0.5) despite travelling over a range of speeds (0.04-0.23 m s-1). The hindlimb joint motions throughout a single stride were temporally synchronized with lateral rotation of the pelvis. The pelvis itself, on average, underwent an angular excursion of 12.71° (±4.39°) with respect to the body midline during lateral rotation. However, comparison between our two kinematic models demonstrated that lateral rotation of the pelvis only increases the cranio-caudal excursion of the hindlimb modestly. Thus, we propose that pelvic lateral rotation is not a stride length augmenting mechanism in K. maculata.

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Apr 3, 2019
Online Publication Date May 8, 2019
Publication Date 2019-05
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Royal Society Open Science
Publisher The Royal Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 6
Issue 5
Article Number 190060
DOI https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.190060
Publisher URL https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.190060#d6317158e1

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