ArticleJournal of anatomy2017
Foot shape in arboreal birds: two morphological patterns for the same pincer-like tool.
Article in Journal of anatomy, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Macroevolutionary trends of avian ichnodisparity in Gondwana.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Bioinspired Adaptive Leg-Claw Enables Robust Perching and Grasping for UAVs.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Exploring Sexual Dimorphism and Asymmetry in Quail (Veterinary sciences · 2025Article
- Task affordances shape hornbills' problem-solving strategies.Biology letters · 2025Article
- Evolution of avian foot morphology through anatomical network analysis.Nature communications · 2024Article
- An upright life, the postural stability of birds: a tensegrity system.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2023Article
- A functional framework for interpreting phalangeal form.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2023Article
- Foot adaptation to climbing in ovenbirds and woodcreepers (Furnariida).Journal of anatomy · 2023Article
- Article
- Positional Behavior of Introduced Monk Parakeets (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Article
- The diet of early birds based on modern and fossil evidence and a new framework for its reconstruction.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The feet are the only contact between the body and the substrate in limbed animals and as such they provide a crucial interface between the animal and its environment. This is especially true for bipedal and arboreal species living in a complex three-dimensional environment that likely induces strong selection on foot morphology. In birds, foot morphology is highly variable, with different orientations of the toes, making it a good model for the study of the role of functional, developmental, and phylogenetic constraints in the evolution of phenotypic diversity. Our data on the proportions of the phalanges analyzed in a phylogenetic context show that two different morphological patterns exist that depend mainly on habitat and toe orientation. In the anisodactyl foot, the hallux is the only backward-oriented toe and is enlarged in climbing species and reduced in terrestrial ones. Moreover, a proximo-distal gradient in phalanx size is observed depending on the degree of terrestriality. In the two other cases (heterodactyl and zygodactyl) that have two toes that point backward, the hallux is rather small in contrast to the other backward-pointing toe, which is enlarged. The first pattern is convergent and common among tetrapods and follows rules of skeletal development. The second pattern is unique for the clade and under muscle-morphogenetic control. In all cases, the functional result is the same tool, a pincer-like foot.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.