Meeting Abstract
Kassina maculata retain the characteristic anuran body plan and jumping ability, however employ walking and running as their primary mode of locomotion. Since their asymmetric forelimb and hindlimb lengths and short spines are not considered particularly well-suited for walking/running, we hypothesised that lateral rotation of the pelvis in walking may compensate for this morphology. 3D kinematic data were collected using high speed video from three views. Twelve external skin markers, placed on the right hindlimb and body, were used to create stick figure models to track limb segment motion and body rotation. Footfall patterns indicate duty factors consistently above 0.5, despite travelling over a range of speeds from 1.57-5.76 body lengths s-1 (mean = 2.89 body lengths s-1), suggesting all observed frogs (n=11 trials from 3 frogs) used a walking gait. Hindlimb joint motions were synchronised and sinusoidal with the majority of femur motion occurring as protraction and retraction in the frontal plane. The models estimated an average pelvic angular excursion of approximately ±5° with respect to the body axis, implying that lateral pelvic rotation potentially increases hindlimb step length. A 3D kinematic model is under development to calculate the hypothetical requirements of the limb to compensate in the absence of lateral pelvic rotation.
