Meeting Abstract
Body size has a large impact on nearly all physiological functions in animals. Because of the effects on underlying physiology, locomotor performance and energetics are also influenced by body size. In most limbed animals, both locomotor performance and locomotor efficiency exhibit negative allometry, meaning that larger animals possess more efficient leg muscles. In limbless animals, data on body size effects on locomotion are more limited. Limbless animals, such as snakes, are capable of utilizing one of many locomotor modes depending on the substrate and the characteristics of the microhabitat being traversed. The most common mode of movement used is lateral undulation, which involves generating force at certain points along the body that make contact with push points, such as rocks or woody vegetation. Our study describes the scaling relationship of speed, excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) and energetic cost of lateral undulation in cornsnakes (Pantherophis guttatus). Energetic cost of lateral undulation was calculated using the EPOC following 3 min of maximal movement and distance traveled. Although lateral undulation differs biomechanically from limbed locomotion in a number of ways, previous studies have shown a similar cost of transport. We found that speed (cm/sec) scaled with body mass to the 0.32 power, which suggests that speed changes proportionally with body length. Energetic cost scaled to the -0.52 power, which is somewhat lower than has been previously reported for the energetic cost of limbed locomotion (-0.20 to -0.40). Our results suggest that energetic costs of lateral undulation are relatively lower for larger cornsnakes.
