The influence of locomotion and habitat use on tendo-muscular units of an anuran clade (Anura, Diphyabatrachia)

FRATANI J; PONSSA ML; RADA M; ABDALA V

ZOOLOGISCHER ANZEIGER

ELSEVIER GMBH

Año: 2020 vol. 284 p. 66 - 77

0044-5231

Tendons have unique mechanical properties, contributing to the transmission, amplification, and recycling of muscle energy. In this light, anuran tendons are especially interesting due to their highly mechanically demanding locomotor modes. Herein we aim to investigate the relation between tendons andmuscles from two perspectives: (1) the tendinous area in relation to the potential force produced byassociated muscles, and how this relation varies for different tendons of the anuran body; (2) thetendinous proportion of a tendo-muscle unit in relation to different locomotor modes and habitat uses ina monophyletic unranked anuran clade (Diphyabatrachia) which includes Leptodactylidae and Centrolenidae, two highly diverse frog family groups of the Neotropics. Our data suggest a significant and positive relation between tendon dimensions and potential muscle force for most of the analyzed elements. We also found that species of different locomotion and habitat use show a divergence oftendinous proportions for tendo-muscle units of the pectoral girdle and hindlimb. Notably, jumperarboreal species differentiate from all others in all tendo-muscle units tested. Finally, the optimization of tendinous proportions showed great phylogenetic correspondence. These results are in agreementwith the hypothesis that morphological variation is related to a combination of phylogenetic, functional,and ecological factors.