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However, similarities also exist among the feet of many different terrestrial vertebrates. The paw of the dog, the hoof of the horse, the manus (forefoot) and pes (hindfoot) of the elephant, and the foot of the human all share some common features of structure, organization and function. Their foot structures function as the load-transmission ...
In terrestrial vertebrates, digitigrade (/ ˈ d ɪ dʒ ɪ t ɪ ˌ ɡ r eɪ d /) [1] locomotion is walking or running on the toes (from the Latin digitus, 'finger', and gradior, 'walk'). A digitigrade animal is one that stands or walks with its toes (phalanges) on the ground, and the rest of its foot lifted.
Webbed feet are the result of mutations in genes that normally cause interdigital tissue between the toes to apoptose. [8] Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, in development is mediated by a variety of pathways, and normally causes the creation of digits by death of tissue separating the digits.
Palmate feet – Chilean flamingo. Totipalmate feet – blue-footed booby. Western grebe presenting a lobate foot. Lobate feet – a chick of the Eurasian coot. The great crested grebe. The feet in loons [2] and grebes [2] [7] are placed far at the rear of the body - a powerful accommodation to swimming underwater, [7] but a handicap for walking.
The primary advantages of a plantigrade foot are stability and weight-bearing ability; plantigrade feet have the largest surface area. The primary disadvantage of a plantigrade foot is speed. With more bones and joints in the foot, the leg is both shorter and heavier at the far end, which makes it difficult to move rapidly.
The foot (pl.: feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion . In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate [ clarification needed ] organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of one or more segments or bones, generally including claws and/or nails.
Gait is the pattern of movement of the limbs of animals, including humans, during locomotion over a solid substrate. Most animals use a variety of gaits, selecting gait based on speed, terrain , the need to maneuver , and energetic efficiency.
Like running members of the even-toed ungulates, mesonychians (Pachyaena, for example) walked on their digits (digitigrade locomotion). [47] Mesonychians fared very poorly at the close of the Eocene epoch, with only one genus, Mongolestes , [ 48 ] surviving into the Early Oligocene epoch, as the climate changed and fierce competition arose from ...