Summary
Eels (Anguilla rostrata) are known to make occasional transitory excursions into the terrestrial environment. While on land, their locomotor kinematics deviate drastically from that observed during swimming. In this study, electromyographic (EMG) recordings were made from white muscle at various longitudinal positions in eels performing undulatory locomotion on land to determine the muscle activity patterns underlying these terrestrial movements. As during swimming, eels propagate a wave of muscle activity from anterior to posterior during terrestrial locomotion. However, the intensity of EMG bursts is much greater on land (on average approximately five times greater than in water). In addition, anteriorly located musculature has higher-intensity EMG bursts than posteriorly located muscle during locomotion on land. EMG duty cycle (burst duration relative to undulatory cycle time) is significantly affected by longitudinal position during terrestrial locomotion, and duty cycles are significantly greater on land (0.4-0.5 cycles) than in water (0. 2–0.3 cycles). Finally, as in swimming, a phase shift in the timing of muscle activity exists such that posteriorly located muscle fibers become activated earlier in their strain cycle than do more anteriorly located fibers. However, fibers become activated much later in their muscle strain cycle on land than in water. Therefore, it is clear that, while eels propagate a wave of muscle activity posteriorly to generate backward-traveling waves that generate propulsive thrust both in water and on land, the specific patterns of timing and the intensity of muscle activity are substantially altered depending upon the environment. This suggests that physical differences in an animal's external environment can play a substantial role in affecting the motor control of locomotion, even when similar structures are used to generate the propulsive forces.
- © 2000 by Company of Biologists
REFERENCES
Article navigation
Related articles
Cited by...
More in this TOC section
Similar articles
Other journals from The Company of Biologists
Predicting the Future: Species Survival in a Changing World
Read our new special issue exploring the significant role of experimental biology in assessing and predicting the susceptibility or resilience of species to future, human-induced environmental change.
Adam Hardy wins the 2020 Journal of Experimental Biology Outstanding Paper Prize
Congratulations to winner Adam Hardy for his work showing that goby fins are as touch sensitive as primate fingertips. Read Adam’s paper and find out more about the 12 papers nominated for the award.
Stark trade-offs and elegant solutions in arthropod visual systems
Many elegant eye specializations that evolved in response to visual challenges continue to be discovered. A new Review by Meece et al. summarises exciting solutions evolved by insects and other arthropods in response to specific visual challenges.
Head bobbing gives pigeons a sense of perspective
Pigeons might look goofy with their head-bobbing walk, but it turns out that the ungainly head manoeuvre allows the birds to judge distance.