Week 4 Vocab: Moving Around

Sprawling stance

Stance in which the limbs project sideways from the body at an angle, rather than straight down.

Erect stance

Stance in which the limbs are held directly under the body

Cursorial

Adapted for proficient running

Digitigrade

Foot posture where animal stands on its toes. e.g. cat

Unguligrade

Foot posture where animal stands
only on toenails that have been modified into
hoofs e.g. deer

Plantigrade

Foot posture where animal stands on toes, the flat and heel of the foot simultaneously e.g. humans

Graviportal

Foot and limb posture specially adapted for
supporting extreme body weight. e.g. elephants

Caudofemoralis

Hind limb retractor muscle positioned at the tail base (absent in mammals and some birds)

Bipedal

Walks on two legs e.g. tyrannosaurids

Quadrupedal

Walks on four limbs e.g. ceratopsians

Trochanter

Process of bone on the femora of crocodiles and birds where the caudofemoralis muscle-ligament attaches.

Ichnofossils

Trace fossils; they record some sort of biological activity e.g. toothmarks, footprints

Endotherms

Animals that generate their own internal body heat and can control their body temperature metabolically; commonly called "warm-blooded animals".

Ectotherms

Animals that do not generate their own internal heat and must regulate their body temperature through behaviour; commonly called "cold-blooded animals".

Histology

The study of bone microstructure as it relates to bone growth

Gigantothermy

The capacity for large ectothermic animals to maintain a relatively constant body temperature because of their low ratio of surface area to volume

Cube square law

A mathematical principle that explains the discrepancy in the relative change of surface area and volume as an object grows or shrinks; as the size of an object increases its volume increase by a factor of three, while its surface area increase by only a factor of two.