Premium
The gaits of the Macropodinae (Marsupialia)
Author(s) -
Windsor D. E.,
Dagg A. I.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1971.tb04530.x
Subject(s) - arboreal locomotion , quadrupedalism , biology , gait , phylogenetics , evolutionary biology , zoology , anatomy , ecology , habitat , physiology , genetics , gene
The gaits of 19 species of Macropodinae were studied from 360 m of movie film taken in zoos. Four gaits were identified: (1) the slow progression involving all the limbs plus the tail which was similar in all the species and used mainly while grazing; (2) the walk, the only gait in which the pairs of limbs were not used synchronously and confined to the sole arboreal species of Dendrolagus ; (3) the quadrupedal bound involving the use of the hindfeet and then the forefeet in sequence and believed to be a primitive gait because it is only found in the relatively primitive species of Setonix and Dendrolagus; and (4) the bipedal hop, the fastest gait, which is often correlated with the habitat of a species. The probable phylogeny of the Macropodinae is presented, based on gaits and other available taxonomic criteria.