Publicaties

The limb skeleton of tapirs (Perissodactyla: Tapirus spp.) was traditionally thought to exhibit morphological variation only as a result of changes in body size. Here, we test whether forelimb variation exhibited by Tapirus is solely an artefact of size fluctuations through the tapir fossil record or whether it is influenced by habitat differences. We investigated the forelimb osteology of 12 species of Tapirus using three-dimensional geometric ...

Background: Throughout life, physiological homeostasis is challenged and the capacity to cope with such challenges declines with increasing age. In many species, sex differences exist in life expectancy. Sex-specific differences have been related to extrinsic factors like mate competition and/or intrinsic proximate mechanisms such as hormonal changes. In humans, an intrinsic factor related to aging is soluble alpha klotho (alpha-Kl). Both sexes ...

Asymmetry in forelimb dorsal hoof wall angles, termed unevenness, is associated with forelimb gait asymmetries, but compensatory mechanisms and out of plane ground reaction forces (GRFs) due to unevenness have yet to be documented. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the effects of fore hoof unevenness on contralateral fore and hind limb force vectors patterns, in both sagittal and frontal planes. A group of n=34 riding horses ...

Data describing segmental masses and moments of inertia (MOI) of limb segments are required for inverse dynamic calculations. In horses, these values are usually calculated using regression equations that have been developed from a limited number of horses representing a small number of breeds. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the performance of a scaling method and a pictorial method for estimating of the values of segmental ...

Evolution of the human hand has undergone a transition from use during locomotion to use primarily for manipulation. Previous comparative morphological and biomechanical studies have focused on potential changes in manipulative abilities during human hand evolution, but few have focused on functional signals for arboreal locomotion. Here, we provide this comparative context though the first analysis of hand loading in captive bonobos during ...

The human hand is well known for its unique dexterity which is largely facilitated by a highly mobile, long and powerful thumb that enables both tool manufacturing and use, a key component of human evolution. The bonobo (Pan paniscus), the closest extant relative to modern humans together with the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), also possesses good manipulative capabilities but with a lower level of dexterity compared with modern humans. Despite ...

The present study used abundance and habitat variables to design High Conservation Value Forests for wildlife protection. We considered great apes (Gorilla gorilla gorilla and Pan troglodytes troglodytes) as model species, and we used nest surveys, dietary analysis and botanical inventories to evaluate whether the traditional methods that use abundance data alone were consistent with the survival of the species. We assumed that setting a local ...

Measuring hunting sustainability across West/Central African forests remains a challenge. Long-term assessment of trends is crucial. Via hunter-reported surveys we collected offtake data in three villages near the Dja Biosphere Reserve (southeast Cameroon). During four months (March-June) in 2003, 2009 and 2016, we gathered information on hunters, prey species and number of carcasses brought to the three settlements. Because it was not possible ...