Testing the form-function paradigm: body shape correlates with kinematics but not energetics in selectively-bred birds

A central concept of evolutionary biology, supported by broad scale allometric analyses, asserts that changing morphology should induce downstream changes in locomotor kinematics and energetics, and by inference selective fitness. However, if these mechanistic relationships exist at local intraspeci...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Communications biology 2024-07, Vol.7 (1), p.900-14, Article 900
Main Authors: Cross, Samuel R. R., Marmol-Guijarro, Andres C., Bates, Karl T., Marrin, John C., Tickle, Peter G., Rose, Kayleigh A., Codd, Jonathan R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/181/414
631/553/2695
631/553/2704
631/601/1332
631/601/1737
Animals
Biological Evolution
Biomechanical Phenomena
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Developmental biology
Ducks - physiology
Energy Metabolism
Female
Kinematics
Life Sciences
Locomotion
Locomotion - physiology
Male
Morphology
Physical fitness
Walking - physiology
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Summary:A central concept of evolutionary biology, supported by broad scale allometric analyses, asserts that changing morphology should induce downstream changes in locomotor kinematics and energetics, and by inference selective fitness. However, if these mechanistic relationships exist at local intraspecific scales, where they could provide substrate for fundamental microevolutionary processes, is unknown. Here, analyses of selectively-bred duck breeds demonstrate that distinct body shapes incur kinematic shifts during walking, but these do not translate into differences in energetics. A combination of modular relationships between anatomical regions, and a trade-off between limb flexion and trunk pitching, are shown to homogenise potential functional differences between the breeds, accounting for this discrepancy between form and function. This complex interplay between morphology, motion and physiology indicates that understanding evolutionary links between the avian body plan and locomotor diversity requires studying locomotion as an integrated whole and not key anatomical innovations in isolation. Duck breeds selectively bred for disparate body shapes are found to walk with different limb kinematics but incur similar energetic costs. This is attributed to the interplay of dynamic kinematic and modular anatomical processes.
ISSN:2399-3642
2399-3642
DOI:10.1038/s42003-024-06592-w