Since my last update in November, I have completed all of my analyses and have been able to draw some conclusions based on the scaling patterns that were calculated.
After analyzing the data for the humeral and femoral limb bone relationships between the length, diameter (Flexion-Extension Diameter, FED, and Perpendicular Diameter, PD), and the estimated body mass for Graptemys, Terrapene, Trachemys, and Pseudemys, I found that the scaling patterns do differ between the taxa's ecological habitats. All four clades showed isometry for humeral and femoral length relative to FED and PD. Graptemys showed positive allometry of humeral and femoral length and diameters (FED and PD) relative to mass, meaning the length and diameters are larger than expected based on the estimated body mass. Since Graptemys has long and robust proximal limb bones relative to body mass, this can mean that they spend more time in terrestrial habitats than aquatic habitats. Terrapene exhibited positive allometry for humeral and femoral FED relative to mass but exhibited isometry for humeral and femoral PD and length relative to mass. This shows that the FED in this taxa is large when compared to estimated mass but the PD is proportional. This can be due to having to counteract the torsional (i.e. twisting) loads that are generated during terrestrial walking to avoid any strain to the limb bones. Trachemys and Pseudemys showed the same scaling pattern in that they both exhibited isometry for humeral and femoral length and diameter relative to mass. This could show an intermediate morphology between terrestrial and swimming lineages since they are known to be found in semi-aquatic (both terrestrial and aquatic) environments.. The robust nature of Graptemys limb bone morphology indicated that this group could possibly spend more time in terrestrial environments, similar to that of Terrapene. This is quite interesting as I have found that they spend most of their time in water other than to bask in the sun (based on a review of the natural history literature). This is something that can be looked further into and possibly bring on further research to look at specifically the Graptemys taxa and see if any of the scaling patterns between the different species could potentially answer the question. On another note, this past weekend I was able to present my data to my fellow peers and professors at Belle Biology Day, which is a weekend where senior biology major students present the research they have been doing in both the format of a poster and an oral presentation. It was quite the experience as I have never presented research before, but I can officially say that I got through it in one piece! For the last half of my semester here at Saint Mary’s, I will be working on finishing up my edits for my senior composition paper and sending it off to committee, who will recommend more edits for me to make. After a few more rounds of edits are complete and the committee signs off on my paper, I will be done with my senior comprehensive project and be ready to graduate! Here’s to smooth sailing ahead! Comments are closed.
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AuthorsAlok Agwick Archives
February 2024
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