Ewart, H, Tickle, P orcid.org/0000-0003-0389-3580, Nudds, R et al. (3 more authors) (2022) Mediterranean Spur-Thighed Tortoises (Testudo graeca) Have Optimal Speeds at Which They Can Minimise the Metabolic Cost of Transport, on a Treadmill. Biology, 11 (7). 1052. ISSN 2079-7737
Abstract
Tortoises are famed for their slow locomotion, which is in part related to their herbivorous diet and the constraints imposed by their protective shells. For most animals, the metabolic cost of transport (CoT) is close to the value predicted for their body mass. Testudines appear to be an exception to this rule, as previous studies indicate that, for their body mass, they are economical walkers. The metabolic efficiency of their terrestrial locomotion is explainable by their walking gait biomechanics and the specialisation of their limb muscle physiology, which embodies a predominance of energy-efficient slow-twitch type I muscle fibres. However, there are only two published experimental reports of the energetics of locomotion in tortoises, and these data show high variability. Here, Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoises (Testudo graeca) were trained to walk on a treadmill. Open-flow respirometry and high-speed filming were simultaneously used to measure the metabolic cost of transport and to quantify limb kinematics, respectively. Our data support the low cost of transport previously reported and demonstrate a novel curvilinear relationship to speed in Testudines, suggesting tortoises have an energetically optimal speed range over which they can move in order to minimise the metabolic cost of transport.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | locomotion; respirometry; Testudines; shell; biomechanics; kinematics |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Biological Sciences (Leeds) > School of Biomedical Sciences (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 02 Sep 2022 15:12 |
Last Modified: | 02 Sep 2022 15:12 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | MDPI |
Identification Number: | 10.3390/biology11071052 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:190529 |