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


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
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 Lemell, P.
Right arrow Articles by Weisgram, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Lemell, P.
Right arrow Articles by Weisgram, J.
The Journal of Experimental Biology 205, 1495-1506 (2002)
© 2002 The Company of Biologists Limited

Feeding patterns of Chelus fimbriatus (Pleurodira: Chelidae)

Patrick Lemell1,*, Christoph Lemell2, Peter Snelderwaard3, Michaela Gumpenberger4, Robert Wochesländer1 and Josef Weisgram1

1 Department of Comparative Anatomy and Morphology, Institute of Zoology, University of Vienna, Althanstraße 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
2 Institute for Theoretical Physics, TU-Vienna, Wiedner Hauptstraße 8-10, A-1040 Vienna, Austria
3 Department of Evolutionary Morphology, Institute of Evolutionary and Ecological Sciences, University Leiden, Kaiserstraat 63, NL-2311GP Leiden, The Netherlands
4 Clinic of Radiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, A-1210 Vienna, Austria

* e-mail: p.lemell{at}vcc.at

Accepted 11 March 2002

The kinematics of feeding on fish have been studied in the aquatic feeding specialist Chelus fimbriatus, the fringed turtle, to provide a basic description of complete feeding cycles. Anatomical findings supplement the kinematic results. High-speed video (500 frames s-1) recordings and X-ray film (150 frames s-1) are used to analyse the kinematic variables characterizing head, hyoid, oesophageal and prey movements. The high velocities, especially of mouth opening, the forward thrust of the head and suction of the prey, are unique among turtles and comparable with those of aquatic salamanders and certain fishes (unidirectional feeders, in contrast to Chelus fimbriatus). The expandability of the pharynx and the anterior half of the oesophagus enables a specific type of unidirectional flow, at least during the early stages of the feeding cycle. This considerably improves the feeding performance compared with that of other aquatic turtles. The streamlined shape of the skull, the large hyoid apparatus, the highly reduced tongue and the extremely distensible oesophagus support the kinematics to a great extent, making C. fimbriatus a specialized suction feeder that can be regarded as one endpoint in the feeding evolution of aquatic reptiles.

Key words: kinematics, feeding, suction, anatomy, turtle, fringed turtle, Chelus fimbriatus




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Exp. Biol.Home page
C. D. Marshall, K. M. Kovacs, and C. Lydersen
Feeding kinematics, suction and hydraulic jetting capabilities in bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus)
J. Exp. Biol., March 1, 2008; 211(5): 699 - 708.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2002