spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif Online submission spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Doherty, P. A.
Right arrow Articles by Lee, J. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Doherty, P. A.
Right arrow Articles by Lee, J. M.

Journal of Experimental Biology, Vol 201, Issue 19 2691-2699, Copyright © 1998 by Company of Biologists

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Mechanical properties of the tadpole tail fin

PA Doherty, RJ Wassersug and JM Lee
Department of Biology, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology and Division of Biomaterials, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4H7. tadpole@is.dal.ca.

The tadpole tail fin is a simple double layer of skin overlying loose connective tissue. Collagen fibres in the fin are oriented at approximately +/-45 degrees from the long axis of the tail. Three tests were conducted on samples of the dorsal tail fin from 6-10 Rana catesbeiana tadpoles to establish the fin's viscoelastic properties under (1) large-deformation cyclic loading at 1 and 3 Hz, (2) small-deformation forced vibration at 1 and 3 Hz, and (3) stress relaxation under a 0.1 s loading time. The fin was very fragile, failing easily under tensile loads less than 7 g. It was also strikingly viscoelastic, as demonstrated by 72+/-1 % hysteresis loss (at 3 Hz), 16+/-3 % stress remaining after 100 s of stress relaxation and a phase angle of 18+/-1 degrees in forced vibration. As a consequence of its viscoelastic properties, the fin was three times stiffer in small than in large deformation. This may account for the ability of the fin to stay upright during normal undulatory swimming, despite the absence of any skeletal support. Tadpoles in nature are often found with damaged tails. We suggest that the unusually viscoelastic and fragile nature of the fin helps tadpoles escape the grasp of predators. Because the fin deforms viscoelastically and tears easily, tadpoles can escape predators and survive otherwise lethal attacks with only minor lacerations to the fin. Recent studies have shown that certain tadpoles develop taller fins in the presence of predators. This developmental plasticity is consistent with the tail fin acting as a protective but expendable 'wrap' around the core muscle tissue.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Exp. Biol.Home page
E. Azizi and T. Landberg
Effects of metamorphosis on the aquatic escape response of the two-lined salamander (Eurycea bislineata)
J. Exp. Biol., March 15, 2002; 205(6): 841 - 849.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Integr. Comp. Biol.Home page
K. vS. Hoff and R. J. Wassersug
Tadpole Locomotion: Axial Movement and Tail Functions in a Largely Vertebraeless Vertebrate
Integr. Comp. Biol., February 1, 2000; 40(1): 62 - 76.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Exp. Biol.Home page
J Van Buskirk and S. McCollum
Influence of tail shape on tadpole swimming performance
J. Exp. Biol., January 7, 2000; 203(14): 2149 - 2158.
[Abstract] [PDF]


© The Company of Biologists Ltd 1998