Journal
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
Volume 223, Issue 22, Pages -Publisher
COMPANY BIOLOGISTS LTD
DOI: 10.1242/jeb.234104
Keywords
Muscle histology; Myonuclei; Biologging; Wing beat frequency; Laridae; Foraging behaviour
Categories
Funding
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Canada Research Chairs in Arctic Ecology
- Northern Scientific Training Program (Polar Knowledge Canada)
- Institute for Seabird Research and Conservation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Muscle ultrastructure is closely linked with athletic performance in humans and lab animals, and presumably plays an important role in the movement ecology of wild animals. Movement is critical for wild animals to forage, escape predators and reproduce. However, little evidence directly links muscle condition to locomotion in the wild. We used GPS-accelerometers to examine flight behaviour and muscle biopsies to assess muscle ultrastructure in breeding black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa ttidactyla). Biopsied kittiwakes showed similar reproductive success and subsequent over-winter survival to non-biopsied kittiwakes, suggesting that our study method did not greatly impact foraging ability. Muscle fibre diameter was negatively associated with wing beat frequency, likely because larger muscle fibres facilitate powered flight. The number of nuclei per fibre was positively associated with average air speed, likely because higher power output needed by faster-flying birds required plasticity for muscle fibre recruitment. These results suggest the potential for flight behaviour to predict muscle ultrastructure.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available