This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
Like humans, ground-dwelling birds (ostriches, emus, chickens, guineafowl, etc.) move by alternate motion of their two legs. Avian bipedal locomotion is well described in two dimensions (from side view), but the movements of the limb bones in three dimensions have never been characterized. This study will use two x-ray systems to record high-speed video of the hind limb skeleton of guineafowl as they stand, move forward at different speeds, and turn. These extremely accurate motion data will provide the first complete description of 3-D hip, knee, and ankle rotations. Simultaneously, a highly sensitive scale will measure the foot's push against the ground. Combining accurate motion (kinematics) and ground force data will allow calculation of the joint forces and torques (kinetics) that bones, muscles, and ligaments must produce/resist.
The project's goal is to understand the contribution of non-planar movement and loading to bipedal locomotion in birds. These results will illuminate aspects of limb design among today?s avian diversity, enhance the functional interpretation of fossils, and potentially fundamentally change the scientific community's vision of running vertebrates. Understanding the mechanisms of 3-D limb movements in birds could lead to advances in therapies/prosthetics for human gait disorders. The proposed research will have broader impacts in graduate and undergraduate student training, enhancement of research infrastructure through biplanar x-ray motion analysis, and broadening participation by including local high-school science teachers in summer lab experience.
