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W A Schutt

Publications and source records attributed to W A Schutt.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

The dynamics of flight-initiating jumps in the common vampire bat Desmodus rotundus.

Desmodus rotundus, the common vampire bat (Phyllostomidae: Desmodontinae), exhibits complex and variable terrestrial movements that include flight-initiating vertical jumps. This ability is unique among bats and is related to their unusual feeding behavior. As a consequence of this behavior, the wing is expected to have design features that allow both powered flight and the generation of violent jumps. In this study, high-speed cine images were synchronized with ground reaction force recordings to evaluate the dynamics of jumping behavior in D. rotundus and to explore the functional characteristics of a wing operating under competing mechanical constraints. The pectoral limbs are responsible for generating upward thrust during the jump. The hindlimbs stabilize and orient the body over the pectoral limbs. The thumbs (pollices) stabilize the pectoral limb and contribute to extending the time over which vertical force is exerted. Peak vertical force can reach 9.5 times body weight in approximately 30 ms. Mean impulse is 0.0580+/-0.007 N s (mean +/- s.d., N=12), which accelerates the animal to a mean take-off velocity of 2.38+/-0.24 m s-1. A model of the muscular activity during jumping is described that accounts for the characteristic force output shown by these animals during flight-initiating jumps.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Neonatal development of the diaphragm of the horse, Equus caballus.

The diaphragm of neonatal horses is significantly different from the diaphragm of adult horses in terms of histochemical fiber type composition, myosin heavy chain isoform, and native myosin isoform composition. There is a significant increase in the percentage of type I fibers present in the diaphragm with increasing age from birth through about seven months postnatal age. A possible lack of postural tone in the hiatal region of the neonatal diaphragm is suggested to account for increased incidence of vomiting or aspiration pneumonia in younger horses. The isoform data lead to rejection of the hypothesis that the diaphragm of the horse should, as an ungulate, be relatively precocial in its rate of maturation relative to other non-ungulate mammals that have been studied.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Morphological, histochemical, and myosin isoform analysis of the diaphragm of adult horses, Equus caballus.

The horse provides an interesting model for study of the structure and function of the mammalian diaphragm. Multiple regions of diaphragm from seven adult horses were prepared for histochemistry, immunocytochemistry, myosin heavy chain electrophoresis, and native myosin electrophoresis. Two additional adults were dissected to demonstrate myofiber and central tendon morphology and stained for acetylcholinesterase to demonstrate motor endplates. All regions of the adult diaphragm were histochemically characterized by a preponderance of type I fibers with some type IIa fibers. Type IIb fibers were absent in all adult specimens. Myosin heavy chain electrophoresis supported the histochemical study: two isoform bands were present on SDS gels that comigrated at the same rate as rat type I and IIa myosin heavy chain isoforms. No isoform was determined to comigrate with rat type IIb heavy chain isoforms. Native myosin isoform analysis revealed two isoforms that comigrated with rat FM-4 and FM-3 (FM = fast myosin) and two isoforms that comigrated with rat SM-1 and SM-2 (SM = slow myosin) isoforms. In some samples, a third slow native myosin isoform was observed that comigrated at the same rate as the SM-3 of the equine biceps brachii muscle. This doublet (or "triplet") of slow isoforms is unique to some horse muscles compared with other adult animals studied. It is not known if these multiple slow native myosin isoforms confer some functional advantage to the equine muscles. The adult equine diaphragm also differs in its morphology by having a large central tendon compared to that in other mammals, and is predominantly slow in fiber type and myosin isoform composition.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Ontogeny of the pectoralis muscle in the little brown bat, Myotis lucifugus.

The ontogeny of a primary flight muscle, the pectoralis, in the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus: Vespertilionidae) was studied using histochemical, immunocytochemical, and electrophoretic techniques. In fetal and early neonatal (postnatal age 1-6 days) Myotis, histochemical techniques for myofibrillar ATPase (mATPase) and antibodies for slow and fast myosins demonstrated the presence of two fiber types, here called types I and IIa. These data correlated with multiple transitional myosin heavy chain isoforms and native myosin isoforms demonstrated with SDS-PAGE and 4% pyrophosphate PAGE. There was a decrease in the distribution and number of type I fibers with increasing postnatal age. At postnatal age 8-9 days, the adult phenotype was observed with regard to muscle fiber type (100% type IIa fibers) and myosin isoform profile (single adult MHC and native myosin isoforms). This "adult" fiber type profile and myosin isoform composition preceded adult function by about 2 weeks. For example, little brown bats were incapable of sustained flight until approximately postnatal day 24, and myofiber size did not achieve adult size until approximately postnatal day 25. Although Myotis pectoralis is unique in being composed of 100% type IIa fibers, transitional fiber types and isoforms were present. These transitional forms had been observed previously in other mammals bearing mixed adult muscle fibers and which undergo transitional stages in muscle ontogeny. However, in Myotis pectoralis, this transition transpires relatively early in development.

Aging↗
PubMed1993

Histochemical and myosin composition of vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) pectoralis muscle targets a unique locomotory niche.

The vampire bat pectoralis muscle contains at least four fiber types distributed in a nonhomogeneous pattern. One of these fiber types, here termed IIe, can be elucidated only by adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) histochemistry combined with reactions against antifast and antislow myosin antibodies. The histochemical and immunohistochemical observations indicate a well-developed specialization of function within specific regions of the muscle. In parallel, analyses of native myosin isoforms and myosin heavy chain isoforms indicate two points. First, the histochemical "type IIe" fiber is predominant in cranial portions of the muscle, and myosin extracted from these regions exhibits a unique electrophoretic mobility not observed in the myosin isoforms of more traditional laboratory mammals. Second, the type I fibers are confined to the pectoralis abdominalis muscle and a small adjacent region of the caudal part of the pectoralis. This pattern of type I fiber distribution is considered a derived character state compared to muscle histochemical phenotype and isoform composition in the pectoralis muscles of other phyllostomids we have studied (Artibeus jamaicensis, Artibeus lituratus, Carollia perspicillata). We relate this to the unique locomotory needs of the common vampire bat, Desmodus rotundus.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Digital morphology in the Chiroptera: the passive digital lock.

Most bats hang from their hindlimb digits for extended periods of time during a variety of activities. Many species possess digital locking mechanisms consisting of modified digital flexor tendons and tendon retinacula. When the digits are flexed, scales or tubercles on the tendon surface engage transverse ribs which invest the inner surfaces of the tendon retinacula. This locks the tendon in place and prevents the digit from extending. Theoretically, by locking the digits during hanging, energy normally spent maintaining contraction of the digital flexor muscles is conserved. In this study, digits from 10 species of bats from 5 families were examined by dissection and scanning electron microscopy. Variation in digital morphology was observed in species that exhibit ecological diversity. It is proposed that hibernation and body weight are important selection pressures for possession of the passive digital lock. In nonhibernating species the mechanism may be present, modified or absent. The passive digital lock is absent in the vampire bats, a group whose feeding habits require substantially altered forms of locomotion. It is hypothesized that the passive digital lock has helped enable many species of bats to occupy habitats inaccessible to most other animals and that species lacking it may exhibit alternative mechanisms that allow them to hang in an energy-efficient manner.

Animals↗