Locomotion in the quail (Coturnix japonica): the kinematics of walking and increasing speed

✍ Scribed by Stephen M. Reilly

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 279 KB
• Volume: 243
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0362-2525
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4687(200002)243:2<173::aid-jmor6>3.0.co;2-e

✦ Synopsis

Hindlimb segmental kinematics and stride characteristics are quantified in several quail locomoting on a treadmill over a six-fold increase in speed. These data are used to describe the kinematics of a walking stride and to identify which limb elements are used to change stride features as speed increases. In quail, the femur does not move during locomotion and the tarsometatarsus-phalangeal joint is a major moving joint; thus, quail have lost the most proximal moving joint and added one distally. The tibiotarsus and tarsometatarsus act together as a fixed strut swinging from the knee during stance phase (the ankle angle remains constant at a given speed) and the tarsometatarsusphalangeal joint appears to have a major role in increasing limb length during the propulsive phase of the stride.