PACE, C.M.; Northern Arizona University: Pectoral fin use on land and water in the mudskipper Periopthalmus argentileatus. Amphibious fish are superb organisms for studying biomechanical contrasts between aquatic and terrestrial locomotion. Perhaps the most well studied amphibious fish is the mudskipper, as it exhibits the extreme end of the amphibious continuum, with some species actually […]

AZIZI, E.; HORTON, J.M.; University of Massachusetts, Amherst: Patterns of appendicular and axial movements during aquatic walking in the salamander, Siren lacertina. Most studies of salamander locomotion have focused either on swimming or terrestrial walking. These studies have shown that during swimming many salamanders tuck their limbs against the body and generate a traveling axial […]

CHANG, Y.-H.; SCHOLZ, J.P.; NICHOLS, T.R.; Emory University & Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta; University of Delaware, Newark; Emory University, Atlanta: Hindlimb Control during Cat Locomotion after Loss of Stretch Reflexes. Locomotion in legged vertebrates involves the coordinated movement of the limbs. In addition to voluntary actions, involuntary actions produced by muscle stretch reflexes also […]

FULL, R.J.*; SEIPEL, J.; HOLMES, P; Univ. of California, Berkeley; Princeton University; Princeton University: Dynamic Stability Model Predicts Constraints In Sprawled Posture Running A simple, passive dynamic model of sprawled posture animals represented by a single, lateral leg spring has shown remarkable dynamic stability using mechanical feedback (Schmitt et al. 2002). We replaced the single […]

DEMES, Brigitte; FRANZ, Theresa M.; CARLSON, Kristian J.; Stony Brook University; Stony Brook University; Stony Brook University: Differential force distribution on the fore- and hind limbs of strepsirrhine primates Primates usually carry more weight with their hind limbs than forelimbs, whereas the opposite tends to be true for nonprimate mammals. This has been interpreted as […]

LUDTKE, J.A. *; PROTHERO, D.R.; San Diego State University; Occidental College: Taxonomic Revision of the Middle Eocene Protoceratid Leptoreodon (Mammalia: Artiodactyla) The primitive hornless protoceratid Leptoreodon occurs abundantly in the Uintan (Utah, California, Saskatchewan, Texas, Wyoming, and Montana) and rarely in the Duchesnean (California, Texas and Saskatchewan) North American Land Mammal Ages. Large new collections […]

LANDRY, S.O.; State University of New York, Binghamton: Surface Mass raio and Neck and Tail Elongation in Large Dinosaurs. Exaggeratedly long necks and (to lesser degree) tails in dinosaurs appear to be restricted to those of extremely large size. This suggests that elongation may be a consequence of unfavorable surface-mass ratios for dissipating internally generated […]

YAMAGUCHI, S; OAKLEY, TH; Univ. of California, Santa Barbara; Univ. of California, Santa Barbara: Ostracod crustaceans as a key to testing an early Paleozoic diversification Did an explosive period of animal divergences, the so-called “Cambrian explosion” , occur in the early Paleozoic? Although molecular phylogenic data can address this question, the taxa used often have […]

REGA, E.A.; NORIEGA, K.C.; SUMIDA, S.S.; LEE, A.H.; Western University of Health Sciences; California State University San Bernardino; California State University San Bernardino; University of California, Berkeley: Histological analysis of traumatic injury to multiple neural spines of an associated skeleton of Dimetrodon: Implications for healing response, dorsal sail morphology and age-at-death in a Lower Permian […]

GEIST, N.R.; RUBEN, J.A.; Sonoma State Univ.; Oregon State Univ.: Evolution of the Hard-Shelled Egg: Clues to Mesozoic Dominance and Eventual Demise of the Archosaurs The ability to produce an amniotic egg surrounded by a rigid, calcium-rich shell conferred several distinct advantages to crocodilians, dinosaurs, birds, and presumably, a variety of basal archosaurian taxa. Such […]