Convergent evolution in locomotory patterns of flying and swimming animals
Convergent evolution in locomotory patterns of flying and swimming animals
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DOI：
10.1038/ncomms1350
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发表时间：
2011-06-01
影响因子：
16.6
通讯作者：
Wilson, Rory P.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Gleiss, Adrian C.;Jorgensen, Salvador J.;Wilson, Rory P.
运动是动物面临的主要能量消耗之一，已经发展了各种策略来降低其成本。鸟类利用间歇的拍动和滑翔来减少水平飞行的机械要求，同时经历飞行高度的周期性变化，称为波动飞行。在这里，我们配备了自由放养的海洋脊椎动物与加速度计，并证明步态模式类似起伏的飞行发生在四个海洋脊椎动物物种，包括鲨鱼和鳍足类。鲨鱼和鳍足动物都显示出间歇性的滑翔，并穿插着动力运动。我们认为，不同动物群体对相似步态模式的趋同使用表明了普遍的物理和生理原则，这些原则超越了分类学的限制，并形成了提高能量效率的共同解决方案。许多脊椎动物进行的昂贵的大规模迁移为有效的运动提供了共同的选择压力，并有可能使各种各样的物种的运动策略趋同。
Locomotion is one of the major energetic costs faced by animals and various strategies have evolved to reduce its cost. Birds use interspersed periods of flapping and gliding to reduce the mechanical requirements of level flight while undergoing cyclical changes in flight altitude, known as undulating flight. Here we equipped free-ranging marine vertebrates with accelerometers and demonstrate that gait patterns resembling undulating flight occur in four marine vertebrate species comprising sharks and pinnipeds. Both sharks and pinnipeds display intermittent gliding interspersed with powered locomotion. We suggest, that the convergent use of similar gait patterns by distinct groups of animals points to universal physical and physiological principles that operate beyond taxonomic limits and shape common solutions to increase energetic efficiency. Energetically expensive large-scale migrations performed by many vertebrates provide common selection pressure for efficient locomotion, with potential for the convergence of locomotory strategies by a wide variety of species.