BIO3132 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Pleistocene, Electroreception, Prototheria
31 May 2018
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Week 3. Hopping and Mammal Diversity I
HOPPING BY MACROPODS
Learning objectives:
•desrie features of hoppig loootio
•eplai ho eefits are otaied
•disuss risks of hoppig
• Hopping is different from jumping
-hop rebounds straight into another hop, feet move together
• There is a difference between large and small hoppers
• Macropods:
o Kangaroos and wallabies
o Includes over 60 species
o 1-70kg BM
o All herbivorous
o Marsupials with single pouch young – geared for surviving in unpredictable conditions
o Young are slow to mature
o Typically cover large range
o Survive on nutrient poor diet
o Only large vertebrates hop – may be connected to mode of reproduction
o Live in a large range, need to follow patchy rainfall
o Need to be energy efficient
o Are marsupials – giving birth to small baby head
-constraint on pelvis is different to mammals – important for hopping capability
• Forms of locomotion:
o As animals get bigger, cost gets smaller (momentum)
o Runner>fly>swimmer
o Swimmer has water as medium
o Kangaroos are the most efficient - very energy efficient
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
• The cost of running:
o Linear rate of increase in energy used with speed
o Net cost of transport remains the same for running animal at any speed
o Energy cost varies for different gaits
eg. human walk vs run
• Macropods use different gaits:
o Pentapedal
o Bipedal: two hind feet always together, tail acts as counterbalance
o Hoppig does’t ork ell for saller aials, eed to e >5kg for hoppig to e
efficient
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
