Leg loss decreases endurance and increases oxygen consumption during locomotion in harvestmen
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Leg loss decreases endurance and increases oxygen consumption during locomotion in harvestmen Ignacio Escalante1,2 · Veronica R. Ellis1 · Damian O. Elias1 Received: 21 August 2020 / Accepted: 4 November 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Animal movements are highly constrained by morphology and energetics. In addition, predictable bodily damage can constrain locomotion even further. For example, for animals moving on land, losing legs may impose additional costs. We tested if losing legs affects the distance travelled over time (endurance) and the metabolic costs of locomotion (oxygen consumption) in Nelima paessleri harvestmen. These arachnids voluntary releases legs (i.e., autotomy) in response to predation attempts. We used flow-through respirometry as animals moved on a treadmill inside a sealed chamber. We found that endurance decreased gradually with an increasing number of legs lost. Interestingly, oxygen consumption increased only for harvestmen that lost three legs, but not for individuals that lost only a single leg. These results have different ecological and evolutionary implications. Reduced endurance may impair an animal’s ability to continue moving away from potential predators, while increased oxygen consumption makes movement costlier. Our findings suggest that individuals have a threshold number of legs that can be lost before experiencing measurable energetic consequences. Overall, our findings illustrate how animals respond to morphological modifications (i.e., damage) that affect the physiology of locomotion. Keywords Autotomy · Locomotion energetics · Opiliones · Respirometry
Introduction Morphological damage can affect movement (Maginnis 2006; Fleming et al. 2007), which is an already highly constrained process in animals (Herreid et al. 1981a; Full 1991). To move, an animal needs resources (e.g., carbohydrates and oxygen) to produce the energy required to displace its body. Animals also need structures capable of generating the physical forces necessary for movement (thrust, lift, energy exchange) (Jindrich and Full 1999; Vogel 2013). This requires maintaining complete and healthy appendages such Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-020-01455-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Ignacio Escalante [email protected] 1
Department of Environmental Sciences, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
Present Address: Behavioral and Molecular Ecology Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA
2
as legs, tails, or wings. Consequently, any damage or loss to those appendages could impact movement negatively. Movement is also performed in environments that likely impose additional challenges such as competitors or predators (Somjee et al. 2018; Wilshin et al. 2018). Thus, movement is a complex, multi-dimensional process that reflects the
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