The Effects of Caudal Autotomy on the Kinematics of Anolis carolinensis Running on an Arboreal-Like Substrate
| dc.contributor | Rachootin, Stan | |
| dc.contributor | Shepardson, Dylan | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Gillis, Gary | |
| dc.contributor.author | Maynard, Eleanor | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2014-06-02T12:58:29Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2014-06-02T12:58:29Z | |
| dc.date.gradyear | 2014 | en_US |
| dc.date.issued | 2014-06-02 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Caudal autotomy is a well-researched predation-escape mechanism used by Anolis lizards. This ‘self-sacrifice’ involves a neuromuscular event in which the tail is severed along an intravertebral fracture plane proximal to the point of a predator’s grip. The phenomenon of autotomy has persisted in anoles for millions of years due to its benefit of increasing the probability of survival. However, autotomy also incurs in the lizard a metabolic deficit, behavioral modifications, and locomotor consequences. Past research has documented post-autotomy changes in sprint speed, step length, and time spent pausing. I hypothesize that these gross locomotor effects can be explained by changes in limb kinematics. Using high-speed video cameras and MATLAB I recorded and compared the characteristic motions of the front and hind legs pre- and post-autotomy in running Anolis carolinensis (N=4), a trunk-crown anole with morphology representative of a broad range of anole ecomorphs. Post-autotomy, the lizards showed significant increases in average velocity, forelimb step frequency, and hindlimb step frequency (p=0.025; p=0.02; p=0.035). Kinematic variables of the limb did not significantly change after tail loss, so the gross locomotor changes observed are better explained as behavioral than biomechanical. | en_US |
| dc.description.sponsorship | Biological Sciences | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10166/3471 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | en_US |
| dc.rights.restricted | public | en_US |
| dc.subject | biomechanics | en_US |
| dc.subject | anole | en_US |
| dc.subject | locomotion | en_US |
| dc.subject | caudal autotomy | en_US |
| dc.title | The Effects of Caudal Autotomy on the Kinematics of Anolis carolinensis Running on an Arboreal-Like Substrate | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | |
| mhc.degree | Undergraduate | en_US |
| mhc.institution | Mount Holyoke College |