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Evolutionary convergence of muscle architecture in relation to locomotor ecology in snakes

The epaxial muscles in snakes are responsible for locomotion and as such can be expected to show adaptations in species living in different environments. Here, we tested whether the structural units that comprise the superficial epaxial muscles (semispinalis‐spinalis, SSP; longissimus dorsi, LD; ili...

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Autores principales: Mathou, Adrien, Bonnet, Xavier, Daoues, Karim, Ksas, Rémi, Herrel, Anthony
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10093152/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36732067
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/joa.13823
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author Mathou, Adrien
Bonnet, Xavier
Daoues, Karim
Ksas, Rémi
Herrel, Anthony
author_facet Mathou, Adrien
Bonnet, Xavier
Daoues, Karim
Ksas, Rémi
Herrel, Anthony
author_sort Mathou, Adrien
collection PubMed
description The epaxial muscles in snakes are responsible for locomotion and as such can be expected to show adaptations in species living in different environments. Here, we tested whether the structural units that comprise the superficial epaxial muscles (semispinalis‐spinalis, SSP; longissimus dorsi, LD; iliocostalis, IC) were different in animals occupying similar habitats. To do so, we analyzed and compared the muscle architecture (mass, fiber length, and physiological cross‐sectional area) of the superficial epaxial muscle segments in snakes that differ in their habitat use (e.g., arboreal, terrestrial, and aquatic). Our results showed that arboreal species have on average longer muscles and tendons spanning more segments likely important during gap bridging. Moreover, aquatic snakes show relatively heavier semispinalis‐spinalis muscles with a greater cross‐sectional area. The longissimus dorsi muscles also showed a greater cross‐sectional area compared with terrestrial and especially arboreal snakes. Whereas the more strongly developed muscles in aquatic snakes are likely associated with the dense and viscous environment through which they move, the lighter muscles in arboreal snakes may provide an advantage when climbing. Future studies comparing other ecologies (e.g., burrowing snakes) and additional muscle units (e.g., multifidus; hypaxial muscles) are needed to better understand the structural features driving variation in locomotor performance and efficiency in snakes.
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spelling pubmed-100931522023-04-13 Evolutionary convergence of muscle architecture in relation to locomotor ecology in snakes Mathou, Adrien Bonnet, Xavier Daoues, Karim Ksas, Rémi Herrel, Anthony J Anat Original Articles The epaxial muscles in snakes are responsible for locomotion and as such can be expected to show adaptations in species living in different environments. Here, we tested whether the structural units that comprise the superficial epaxial muscles (semispinalis‐spinalis, SSP; longissimus dorsi, LD; iliocostalis, IC) were different in animals occupying similar habitats. To do so, we analyzed and compared the muscle architecture (mass, fiber length, and physiological cross‐sectional area) of the superficial epaxial muscle segments in snakes that differ in their habitat use (e.g., arboreal, terrestrial, and aquatic). Our results showed that arboreal species have on average longer muscles and tendons spanning more segments likely important during gap bridging. Moreover, aquatic snakes show relatively heavier semispinalis‐spinalis muscles with a greater cross‐sectional area. The longissimus dorsi muscles also showed a greater cross‐sectional area compared with terrestrial and especially arboreal snakes. Whereas the more strongly developed muscles in aquatic snakes are likely associated with the dense and viscous environment through which they move, the lighter muscles in arboreal snakes may provide an advantage when climbing. Future studies comparing other ecologies (e.g., burrowing snakes) and additional muscle units (e.g., multifidus; hypaxial muscles) are needed to better understand the structural features driving variation in locomotor performance and efficiency in snakes. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2023-02-02 /pmc/articles/PMC10093152/ /pubmed/36732067 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/joa.13823 Text en © 2023 The Authors. Journal of Anatomy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Anatomical Society. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Articles
Mathou, Adrien
Bonnet, Xavier
Daoues, Karim
Ksas, Rémi
Herrel, Anthony
Evolutionary convergence of muscle architecture in relation to locomotor ecology in snakes
title Evolutionary convergence of muscle architecture in relation to locomotor ecology in snakes
title_full Evolutionary convergence of muscle architecture in relation to locomotor ecology in snakes
title_fullStr Evolutionary convergence of muscle architecture in relation to locomotor ecology in snakes
title_full_unstemmed Evolutionary convergence of muscle architecture in relation to locomotor ecology in snakes
title_short Evolutionary convergence of muscle architecture in relation to locomotor ecology in snakes
title_sort evolutionary convergence of muscle architecture in relation to locomotor ecology in snakes
topic Original Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10093152/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36732067
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/joa.13823
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