Differences in kinematic plasticity between freshwater turtle species underlie differences in swimming performance in response to varying flow conditions

Christopher J. Mayerl, Kirsten E. Hicks, Richard W. Blob

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

The distribution and performance of aquatic vertebrates can be linked strongly to their ability to perform in variable conditions of flowing water. Performance in these variable conditions can be affected by both morphology and behaviour, and animals that experience more variable environments often show greater behavioural plasticity that improves performance in those environments. One common metric of performance is swimming stability, which can constitute a majority of the daily energy budget of swimming animals. We compared the body oscillations arising from recoil forces of the limbs of two species of freshwater turtles as they swam in different flow conditions: The lentic specialist Emydura subglobosa and the habitat generalist Chrysemys picta. We found that E. subglobosa experienced more limited oscillations in still water than C. picta, but that C. picta had a greater kinematic response to increased flow speed that might contribute to their improved performance in flowing water. These results provide insight into how secondarily aquatic tetrapods respond to the functional demands of variation in flow, helping to build understanding of the relationship between energetics, kinematics and performance of such lineages in different environments.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)762-770
Number of pages9
JournalBiological Journal of the Linnean Society
Volume127
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Behavioural plasticity
  • Biomechanics
  • Locomotion
  • Plasticity
  • Reptile

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

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