Biomechanics and strategies of digging
- Vassallo, Aldo Iván
- Becerra, Federico
- Echeverría, Alejandra Isabel
- Buezas, Guido Nicolás
- Díaz, Alcira Ofelia
- Longo, María Victoria
- Cohen, Mariana
DOIAbstract
In arid and semiarid ecosystems, digging and burrowing are common behaviors in many mammals looking for shelter, food, thermoregulation, etc. Many rodents, as tuco-tucos, may use both the foreclaws and incisors - according to soil requirements - to accomplish that goal in an effective manner. Although digging represents a low fraction of the daily energy budget, it triggered some highly derived adaptations. Forelimbs in caviomorph scratch-diggers are characterized by highly robust humeri and ulnae, and well-developed bony superstructures. These mechanically advantageous traits have been already found during early ontogeny in Ctenomys -compensating the lower muscular development - and encompass the gradual improvement of digging and burrowin...
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