Post-hatching growth of the limbs in an altricial bird species

The fore- and hindlimbs of birds are specialized to perform different functions. The growth patterns of limb bones and their relationship with the ontogeny of locomotion are critical to our understanding of variation in morphological, physiological and life-history traits within and among species. Unfortunately, the ontogenetic development of limb bones has not been well explored, especially in altricial birds. In this study, we sampled the entire measurements of the pigeon (Columba livia) of individual skeletons, to investigate the ontogenetic allometry of limb bones by reduced major axis regression. The ulna and humerus were found to be positively allometric in relation to body mass, with the ulna growing more rapidly than the humerus. Together with previous data, this suggests that strong positive allometric growth in forelimb bones could be a common trend among diverse Carinatae groups. Hindlimb was dominated by positive allometry, but was variable in the growth of the tarsometatarsus which included three allometric patterns. A greater dorsoventral diameter in the midsection of the humerus and ulna confers superior bending resistance and is ideal for flapping/gliding flight. Shape variation in the midsection of different hindlimb components reflects different mechanical loading, and the markedly inverse trend between the tibiotarsus and tarsometatarsus before 28 days of age also suggests loading change before fledging. Before fledging, the growth of the leg bones was prior to that of the wing bones. This kind of asynchronous development of the fore- and hindlimbs was associated with the establishment and improvement of different functions, and with shifts in the importance of different functions over time.

Automated summary

This study investigated the ontogenetic allometry of limb bones in pigeons and found that the forelimb bones tend to show positive allometry, which may be a common trend among Carinatae groups, while hindlimb bones exhibit positive allometry with variable patterns in the tarsometatarsus. The shape variation in different hindlimb components reflects different mechanical loading, and the asynchronous development of the fore- and hindlimbs is associated with the establishment and improvement of different functions over time.