Fred Ruhe
Well-known member
Eleanor M. Feneck, Sorrel R. B. Bickley and Malcolm P. O. Logan, 2021
Embryonic Development of the Avian Sternum and Its Morphological Adaptations for Optimizing Locomotion.
Diversity 13(10): 481
doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/d13100481
Free pdf: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/13/10/481
Abstract
The sternum is part of the forelimb appendicular skeleton found in most terrestrial vertebrates and has become adapted across tetrapods for distinctive modes of locomotion. We review the regulatory mechanisms underlying sternum and forelimb development and discuss the possible gene expression modulation that could be responsible for the sternal adaptations and associated reduction in the forelimb programme found in flightless birds. In three phylogenetically divergent vertebrate lineages that all undertake powered flight, a ventral extension of the sternum, named the keel, has evolved independently, most strikingly in volant birds. In flightless birds, however, the sternal keel is absent, and the sternum is flattened. We review studies in a variety of species that have analysed adaptations in sterna morphology that are related to the animal’s mode of locomotion on land, in the sky and in water. View Full-Text
Enjoy,
Fred
Embryonic Development of the Avian Sternum and Its Morphological Adaptations for Optimizing Locomotion.
Diversity 13(10): 481
doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/d13100481
Free pdf: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/13/10/481
Abstract
The sternum is part of the forelimb appendicular skeleton found in most terrestrial vertebrates and has become adapted across tetrapods for distinctive modes of locomotion. We review the regulatory mechanisms underlying sternum and forelimb development and discuss the possible gene expression modulation that could be responsible for the sternal adaptations and associated reduction in the forelimb programme found in flightless birds. In three phylogenetically divergent vertebrate lineages that all undertake powered flight, a ventral extension of the sternum, named the keel, has evolved independently, most strikingly in volant birds. In flightless birds, however, the sternal keel is absent, and the sternum is flattened. We review studies in a variety of species that have analysed adaptations in sterna morphology that are related to the animal’s mode of locomotion on land, in the sky and in water. View Full-Text
Enjoy,
Fred
