Ontogeny and Evolution of Avian Locomotion: Forelimb and Hindlimb Mechanics

鸟类运动的个体发育和进化：前肢和后肢机械师肯尼斯·保罗·戴尔，蒙大拿大学半个翅膀有什么用？这个问题是近150年前向查尔斯·达尔文提出的，对于那些努力解释过渡动物形式可能是如何运作和行为的人来说，这个问题仍然是一个强有力的挑战。当鸟类从恐龙祖先中出现时，洞察它们的进化史仍然是一个挑战。尽管飞行是最常见的动物运动形式，但直到最近，我们才开始了解特定的鸟类内部结构(如骨骼、肌肉、神经)在运动(如飞行、行走、拍打)中如何发挥作用。翅膀辅助倾斜跑(WAIR)是一种运动策略，包括形态和行为特征，允许地面鸟类部分和完全发育的翅膀在它们撤退到高架避难所时帮助它们强大的后肢。显然在活着的地面鸟类中很常见，WAIR被认为是阐明鸟类飞行的起源和进化的最直接的解释。在这项研究中，为了更好地了解腿和翅膀是如何协同工作来移动动物的，我们探索了各种鸟类的发育解剖和运动能力。据推测，恐龙祖先可能同时使用了它们的原始翅膀(半个翅膀)和腿来帮助它们寻找食物，躲避捕食者，并穿越复杂的3-D环境。利用高速视频、测力板、加速计和激光成像，将量化幼鸟和成年鸟运动过程中的重要生物物理参数。该项目将为学生提供跨学科培训，国际和平协会将继续开展公共外联活动，特别是在大众媒体上介绍他的工作的那些方面。

Ontogeny and evolution of avian locomotion: Forelimb and hindlimb mechanics Kenneth Paul Dial, University of MontanaWhat use is half a wing? This question was posed to Charles Darwin nearly 150 years ago and remains a potent challenge to those striving to explain how transitional animal forms may have functioned and behaved. Providing insight into the evolutionary history of birds as they emerged from their dinosaur ancestors remains a challenge. And despite flight being the most common form of animal locomotion, only recently have we begun to understand how specific avian internal structures (e.g., skeletal, muscular, neural) function during locomotion (e.g., flight, walking, flap-running). Wing-assisted incline running (WAIR) represents locomotor strategy involving morphological and behavioral traits that permit partially- and fully-developed wings of ground birds to assist their powerful hindlimbs as they retreat to an elevated refuge. Apparently common among living ground birds, WAIR is argued to represent the most straight-forward explanation elucidating the origin and evolution of avian flight. In this study, the developmental anatomy and locomotor performance of various avian species is explored in order to better understand how legs and wings work in concert to move the animal. It is suggested that dinosaur ancestors may have used their proto-wings (half a wing) and legs simultaneously to help them search for food, escape predators, and traverse complex 3-D environments. Using high-speed video, force plates, accelerometers, and laser imaging, the important biophysical parameters during the locomotion of young and adult birds will be quantified. The project will provide for interdisciplinary training of students and the PI will continue public outreach activities, particularly those aspects featuring his work in the mass media.