ArticleBiology letters2020
It's in the loop: shared sub-surface foot kinematics in birds and other dinosaurs shed light on a new dimension of fossil track diversity.
Article in Biology letters, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Soft tissue constraints on joint mobility in the avian shoulder.The Journal of experimental biology · 2025Article
- Speed from fossil trackways: calculations not validated by extant birds on compliant substrates.Biology letters · 2025Article
- Reconstructing dinosaur locomotion.Biology letters · 2025Review
- Article
- Article
- Articular surface interactions distinguish dinosaurian locomotor joint poses.Nature communications · 2024Article
- The moa footprints from the Pliocene - early Pleistocene of Kyeburn, Otago, New Zealand.Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand · 2024Article
- Modern three-dimensional digital methods for studying locomotor biomechanics in tetrapods.The Journal of experimental biology · 2023Review
- Inner workings of the alligator ankle reveal the mechanistic origins of archosaur locomotor diversity.Journal of anatomy · 2023Article
- A Guide to Inverse Kinematic Marker-Guided Rotoscoping Using IK Solvers.Integrative organismal biology (Oxford, England) · 2022Article
- Alligators employ intermetatarsal reconfiguration to modulate plantigrade ground contact.The Journal of experimental biology · 2021Article
- The Influence of Snow Properties on Speed and Gait Choice in the Svalbard Rock Ptarmigan (Integrative organismal biology (Oxford, England) · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The feet of ground-dwelling birds retain many features of their dinosaurian ancestry. Experiments with living species offer insights into the complex interplay among anatomy, kinematics and substrate during the formation of Mesozoic footprints. However, a key aspect of the track-making process, sub-surface foot movement, is hindered by substrate opacity. Here, we use biplanar X-rays to image guineafowl walking through radiolucent substrates of different consistency (solid, dry granular, firm to semi-liquid muds). Despite substantial kinematic variation, the foot consistently moves in a looping pattern below ground. As the foot sinks and then withdraws, the claws of the three main toes create entry and exit paths in different locations. Sampling these paths at incremental horizons captures two-dimensional features just as fossil tracks do, allowing depth-based zones to be characterized by the presence and relative position of digit impressions. Examination of deep, penetrative tracks from the Early Jurassic confirms that bipeds had an equivalent looping response to soft substrates approximately 200 Ma. Our integration of extant and extinct evidence demonstrates the influence of substrate properties on sinking depth and sub-surface foot motion, both of which are significant sources of track variation in the fossil record of dinosaurs.
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