Long-legged caracaras: terrestrial habitat and hind limb morphology

MOSTO M.C; PICASSO M.B.J; BIONDI, L.

JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY (1987)

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2016 vol. 298 p. 274 - 284

0952-8369

The hindlimb of the Polyborinae has always been characterized as long when itwas compared with other diurnal raptors; however, no empirical work has beendone to support such a traditional well-known fact. The objective of this work isto analyze the femur, tibiotarsus and tarsometatarsus of this group to corroboratewhether this assumption has a signicant statistical support. The proportions ofthese bones were analyzed with a one-way Kruskal?Wallis test and Dunn?s test aspost hoc comparisons. The allometric relationships between the long bones andbody mass or the total length of the hindlimb were carried out with the reducedmajor axis method. In addition, the osteological study is complemented with amyological dissection of the hindlimb of Milvago chimachima and Caracara plancus.The three long bones of the limb of Polyborinae show signicant differenceswith those from Falconinae. The presence of a long tarsometatarsus is a typicalfeature of terrestrial birds, it produces an increase in length stride allowing aneffective locomotion on land. Among the myological differences, the most prominentare the presence of the musculus exor cruris lateralis (absent in otherFalconidae) and a well-developed musculus bularis longus. These osseous andmyological features are related to the terrestrial locomotion present in thissubfamily.