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Role of skin in locomotion describes how the
integumentary system The integumentary system is the set of organs forming the outermost layer of an animal's body. It comprises the skin and its appendages, which act as a physical barrier between the external environment and the internal environment that it serves ...
is involved in locomotion. Typically the integumentary system can be thought of as
skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different ...
, however the integumentary system also includes the segmented exoskeleton in
arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chiti ...
s and
feathers Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and a premier ...
of birds. The primary role of the
integumentary system The integumentary system is the set of organs forming the outermost layer of an animal's body. It comprises the skin and its appendages, which act as a physical barrier between the external environment and the internal environment that it serves ...
is to provide protection for the body. However, the structure of the skin has evolved to aid animals in their different modes of locomotion. Soft bodied
animals Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...
such as
starfish Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish a ...
rely on the arrangement of the fibers in their tube feet for movement.
Eels Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
,
snakes Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...
, and
fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...
use their skin like an external
tendon A tendon or sinew is a tough, high-tensile-strength band of dense fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. It is able to transmit the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system without sacrificing its ability ...
to generate the propulsive forces need for undulatory locomotion. Vertebrates that fly, glide, and parachute also have a characteristic
fiber Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorporate ...
arrangements of their flight
membrane A membrane is a selective barrier; it allows some things to pass through but stops others. Such things may be molecules, ions, or other small particles. Membranes can be generally classified into synthetic membranes and biological membranes. ...
s that allows for the skin to maintain its structural integrity during the stress and strain experienced during flight.


Soft bodied locomotion in invertebrates

The term "Soft Bodied" refers to animals which lack typical systems of skeletal support - included in these are most insect
larvae A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. T ...
and true worms. Animals that are soft bodied are constrained by the geometry and form of their bodies. However it is the geometry and form of their bodies that generate the forces they need to move. The structure of soft bodied skin can be characterized by a patterned fiber arrangement, which provides the shape and structure for a soft bodied animals. Internal to the patterned fiber layer is typically a liquid filled cavity, which is used to generate hydrostatic pressures for movement.Robert E. Shadwick. Foundations of animal hydraulics: Geodesic fibres control the shape of soft bodied animals. J Exp Biol, 211(3):289–291, February 2008. Some animals that exhibit soft bodied locomotion include
starfish Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish a ...
,
octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, ...
, and flatworms.


Hydrostatic skeleton

A hydrostatic skeleton uses hydrostatic pressure generated from muscle contraction against a liquid filled cavity. The liquid filled cavity is commonly referred to as the hydrostatic body. The liquid within the hydrostatic body acts as an incompressible fluid and the body wall of the hydrostatic body provides a passive elastic
antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist. Etymology The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, ri ...
to muscle contraction, which in turn generates a force, which in turn creates movement. This structure plays a role in invertebrate support and locomotor systems and is used for the tube feet in starfish and body of worms . A specialized version of the hydrostatic skeleton is a called a muscular hydrostat, which consists of a tightly packed array of three-dimensional muscle fibers surrounding a hydrostatic body.William M. Kier and Kathleen K. Smith. Biomechanics(Structures and Systems):A Practical Approach.(1992).A.a. Biewener, ed. New York: IRL Press at Oxford Univ. Press. Examples of muscular hydrostats include the arms of octopus and elephant trunks.


Fiber arrangement

The arrangement of the connective tissue fibers and muscle fibers create the skeletal support of a soft bodied animal. The arrangement of the fibers around a hydrostatic body limits the range of movement of the hydrostatic body (the "body" of a soft bodied animal) and defines the way the hydrostatic body moves.


Muscle fibers

Typically muscle fibers surround the hydrostatic body. There are two main types of muscle fibers orientations that are responsible for the movement: the circular orientations and longitudinal orientations.William M. Kier and Kathleen K. Smith. Tongues, tentacles and trunks: the biomechanics of movement in muscular-hydrostats.Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 83(4):307–324, 1985. Circular muscles decrease the diameter of a hydrostatic body, resulting in an increase in the length of the body, whereas longitudinal muscles shortens the length of a hydrostatic body, resulting in an increase in the diameter of the body. There are four categories of movements of a hydrostatic skeleton : elongation, shortening, bending and torsion. Elongation, which involves an increase in the length of a hydrostatic body requires either circular muscles, a transverse muscle arrangement, or radial muscle arrangement. For a transverse muscle arrangement, parallel sheets of muscle fibers that extend along the length of a hydrostatic body. For a radial muscle arrangement, radial muscles radiate from a central axis along the axis perpendicular to the long axis. Shortening involves the contraction of the longitudinal muscle. Both shortening and bending involve the contraction of longitudinal muscle, but for bending motion some of the antagonistic muscles work synergistically with longitudinal muscles. The amplitude of movements are based upon the antagonistic muscles forces and the amount of leverage the antagonistic muscle provides for movement. For the torsion motion, muscles are arranged in helical layers around a hydrostatic body. The fiber angle (the angle the fiber makes with the long axis of the body) plays a critical role in torsion, if the angle is greater than 54°44', during muscle contraction, torsion and elongation will occur. If the fiber angle is less than 54°44', torsion and shortening will occur.


Connective tissue fibers

The arrangement of connective tissue fibers determines the range of motion of a body, and serves as an antagonist against muscle contraction. The most commonly observed connective tissue arrangement for soft bodied animals consists of layers of alternating right and left-handed helices of connective tissue fibers which surround the hydraulic body. This cross helical arrangement is seen in the tube feet starfish, different types of worms and suckers in octopus. This cross helical arrangement allows for the connective tissue layers to evenly distribute force throughout the hydrostatic body. Another commonly observed connective tissue fiber range is when the connective tissue fibers are embedded within a muscle layer. This arrangement of connective tissue fibers creates a stiffer body wall and more muscle antagonism, which allows for more elastic force to be generated and released during movement. This fiber arrangement is seen in the mantle of squid and the fins in sharks.


Specialized function in vertebrates


Swimming and undulatory locomotion

The skin of these animal that use undulatory motion to locomote have several distinct characteristics. The skin of these animals consists of cross-helical arrangement of
collagen Collagen () is the main structural protein in the extracellular matrix found in the body's various connective tissues. As the main component of connective tissue, it is the most abundant protein in mammals, making up from 25% to 35% of the whol ...
and
elastin Elastin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''ELN'' gene. Elastin is a key component of the extracellular matrix in gnathostomes (jawed vertebrates). It is highly elastic and present in connective tissue allowing many tissues in the bo ...
fibers embedded in the dermal layer of skin,D.M. Pearson.Functional aspects of the skin in polypterus fishes. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 72, 93–106. 1981 a two-dimensional stiffness. which permits bending at small curvatures and resists bending at high curvatures and skin is attached directly to the underlying muscles.
Fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...
,
shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...
, and
snakes Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...
are all examples of animals that locomote using undulatory locomotion.


Eel

The cross helical fiber arrangement of the two dermal fibers types
collagen Collagen () is the main structural protein in the extracellular matrix found in the body's various connective tissues. As the main component of connective tissue, it is the most abundant protein in mammals, making up from 25% to 35% of the whol ...
and
elastin Elastin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''ELN'' gene. Elastin is a key component of the extracellular matrix in gnathostomes (jawed vertebrates). It is highly elastic and present in connective tissue allowing many tissues in the bo ...
, are responsible for the mechanical properties of the skin such as the two dimensional stiffness seen in the eel skin. In the longitudinal direction, eel skin behaves like a pure fiber system, with a lesser
tensile strength Ultimate tensile strength (UTS), often shortened to tensile strength (TS), ultimate strength, or F_\text within equations, is the maximum stress that a material can withstand while being stretched or pulled before breaking. In brittle materials ...
than skin in the hoop direction. The skin in the hoop direction exhibits a higher
elastic modulus An elastic modulus (also known as modulus of elasticity) is the unit of measurement of an object's or substance's resistance to being deformed elastically (i.e., non-permanently) when a stress is applied to it. The elastic modulus of an object is ...
than the skin in the longitudinal direction.M R. Hebrank. Mechanical properties and locomotor functions of eel skin. Biol Bull, 158(1):58–68, February 1980. The two dimensional stiffness allows for the body of the eel to be modeled a pressurized cylinder with the fiber angle of the cross helical arrangement dictating the method by which the eel moves. Eel skin behaves like skin having a fiber angle greater than 45°. In an eel with the cross helical fiber arrangement, muscle contraction in the anterior region bends the fish, and so the skin on the convex side is extended in the longitudinal direction. The extension in the longitudinal direction produces contraction in the hoop direction as the fiber angle decreases until these dimensional changes are resisted by the body of the eel. The skin becomes skin, and additional longitudinal force (applied by skin) results in force being transmitted along the tail. Therefore, changes in fiber angle of the cross helical arrangement in eel skin allows for the transmission of force through the skin during swimming. The skin act like an external tendon allowing for an eel to generate a greater propulsive force per muscle contraction. In addition to the eel skin acting as an external tendon, the skin attaches directly to the underlying muscle, which allow for the eel to generate an even greater force per muscle contraction.


Longnose gar

Due to the heavily scaled skin of the
Longnose gar The longnose gar (''Lepisosteus osseus''), also known as longnose garpike or billy gar, is a ray-finned fish in the family Lepisosteidae. The genus may have been present in North America for about 100 million years. References are made to gar ...
, some of the mechanical properties differ from model of describing how eel skin adds movement. The scale row resists longitudinal forces, which unlike eel skin, makes the skin stiffer in the longitudinal direction, providing myomeres with leverage and anchorage for pulling tendons. At low curvatures, it appears that the dermis is slack on both the concave and convex sides of the body. When the dermis is placed in tension, and resistance to bending is developed, which is referred to as flexural stiffness of the fish skin. The flexural stiffness is a result of the two dimensional stiffness of fish with heavily scaled skin, such as the longnose gar. This mechanical property of fish skin is important to the way a fish swims, because this mechanical property passively stiffens the body, which would otherwise would have been done muscularly.Long, J.H. Jr., Hale, M.E., McHenry, M.J.* and M.W. Westneat. (1996). Functions of fish skin: flexural stiffness and steady swimming of longnose gar, Lepisosteus osseus. Journal of Experimental Biology 199, 2139-2151. The flexural stiffness of fish skin act in a manner similar to the mechanism by which eel skin acts as an external tendon, however in the case of fish skin, the flexural stiffness acts as a mechanism to decelerate body movement rather than to generate a propulsive force.


Snake

Snakes are one of the few vertebrates in which the skin alone is sufficient for locomotion. During Rectilinear locomotion, the skeleton remains fixed, while the skin is alternately lifted and pulled forward, and then allowed to contact the ground and pulled backwards, propelling the body forward. One of the interesting aspects of snake skin are folds of intersquamous skin between longitudinally oriented scale rows. The function of these folds is to permit the circumference of the snake to increase, allowing prey to pass into the stomach during feeling., S.J.Mullin. Adaptations facilitating facultative oophagy in the gray rat snake, Elaphe obsolete spiloides. Amphibia-Reptilia 17, 387-394. 1996 Snakes differ from eels in the direction in which the skin is stiffer, the dorsal scale rows are more flexible in snake than in eels because the dorsal scale row associated with stretching. Differences in the local dermal structures, such as variations in the diameters and orientation of collagen fibers within the intersquamous skin create local differences in the mechanical properties of the snake skin, thus allowing it to adapt to the stresses and strains during the feeding process.Gabriel Rivera, Alan H. Savitzky, and Jeffrey A. Hinkley. Mechanical properties of the integument of the common gartersnake, thamnophis sirtalis (serpentes: Colubridae). J Exp Biol, 208(15):2913–2922, August 2005.


Aerial locomotion

Gliding, Flying and Parachuting are some of the some methods of aerial locomotion used by animals. Vertebrates have altered the structure of the skin to accommodate the stresses and strains of flight. Typically mammalian skin consists of collagen fibers arranged in a felt-work pattern, with no preferential fiber orientation. However, the structures of skin in bats,
birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
, and gliding
lizards Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia altho ...
are very different from those of typical mammalian skin. The structural arrangement of the fibers within bat wing skin enables the bat to act like a spring during the down-stroke of flapping. The scales of gliding lizards are arranged in a regular rib like pattern to enable to lizard to act as an
airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or turbin ...
. Avain skin must be structurally arranged such that "the coat of feathers" remains smooth and intact during flight.


Bats

Bats rely on skin on their wings to generate lift and
thrust Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that ...
used in flight. Therefore, the structure of the bat wing skin is different from the skin of the bat body. Bat wing skin consists of two thin layers of
epidermis The epidermis is the outermost of the three layers that comprise the skin, the inner layers being the dermis and hypodermis. The epidermis layer provides a barrier to infection from environmental pathogens and regulates the amount of water rel ...
with a thin layer of
dermis The dermis or corium is a layer of skin between the epidermis (with which it makes up the cutis) and subcutaneous tissues, that primarily consists of dense irregular connective tissue and cushions the body from stress and strain. It is divided ...
/hypodermis located between the epidermal layers whereas the skin of the bat body consists of a single layer of epidermis with a thicker layer of dermis internal to the epidermis. Within the dermal and epidermal layer of bat wing skin, the connective tissue and muscle fibers provide the structural support. The connective tissue fibers within bat wing skin consists of collagen and elastin fiber bundles arranged in a "regular mesh like scaffolding",Holbrook, K & Oldand, g F. A collagen and elastic network in the wing of a bat. J Anat. 126:21-36 (1978) which the nerves, skeletal muscle fibers and blood vessels embed themselves into. Of the muscles that insert themselves into the mesh scaffolding, larger muscles anchor the skin to the bone and control the membrane tension and camber of the bat wing during flight,S. M. Swartz, M. S. Groves, H. D. Kim, and W. R. Walsh. Mechanical properties of bat wing membrane skin. Journal of Zoology,239(2):357–378, 1996. whereas smaller muscles, which originate from within the mesh scaffolding, attach to collagen fibers within the fiber network and modulate bone loading and allow for precise control of wing shape and tension. As seen in snakes, local structural differences within the arrangement of the fibers change the mechanical properties of local area, but there are general characteristics that describe the mechanical behavior of bat wing skin. Within the mesh scaffolding of bat wing skin, collagen fibers cross bones perpendicular to the long axes of the bones, therefore mechanical properties of bat wing skin oriented perpendicular to the long axes of the bones exhibit a lower stiffness than the skin that is oriented parallel to the long axes of the bodies. Stiffer skin is necessary for bat wing skin oriented in the direction parallel to the long axes of the bones to prevent too much deformation of bat wing skin during flight (with respect to the bone), resulting in the shearing of the bat wing skin off of the bone. Flexible skin is necessary for the direction perpendicular to the long axes of the bones for facilitating the shape changes needed for movement and control during flight. This anisotropy of bat wing skin is also useful as method of storing and releasing elastic energy, particularly during the downstroke. During the downstroke, the bat extends its wing and the wing skin experiences an aerodynamic force. The wing skin expands and counteracts the aerodynamic force. After the wing is fully extended, the orientation of the wing is nearly vertical and the aerodynamic forces on the wing are reduced. As the aerodynamic force is reduced, the wing recoils, drawing the digits of the wings together in preparation for the upstroke.


Gliding lizards

There are two different mechanisms by which lizards glide through the air. Both mechanisms involve the patagia. In the active mechanism, skeletal supports and muscles run through the patagia of lizards. The skeletal supports and muscle erect the flight membrane and control the gliding using the patagia. Most of the lizards that exhibit this active gliding mechanism are agamine lizards such lizards in the genus ''Draco''. For the passive mechanism of gliding in lizards, the patagia is unfurled by air pressure alone. The patagia of the passive mechanism differs from patagia of the active mechanism; there is the lack of skeleton support and musculature in patagia of the gliding lizards with the passive gliding mechanism . The passive mechanism of gliding is seen in smaller lizards such as the geckos of the genus Ptychozoon. For the passive mechanism of gliding, body movements are believed to control the descent of the gliding lizard. The surface area to body ratios of lizards with different gliding mechanisms are similar, but how the surface area is distributed is different. The difference in the distribution of surface area indicates the differences in the role of the patagia and accessory areas for the different flight mechanisms. Lizards with passive gliding mechanisms tend to have smaller patagia relative to lizards with active flight mechanisms. However, lizards with passive flight mechanism have, ore surface area located in accessory areas (i.e. webbed toes, tail) than lizards with the active gliding mechanism.Anthony P. Russell, Luke D. Dijkstra, and G. Lawrence Powell. Structural characteristics of the patagium of Ptychozoon kuhli (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) in relation to parachuting locomotion. Journal of Morphology, 247(3):252–263, 2001. The structure of the skin of the patagia and accessory areas for the patagia of a Ptychozoon kuhli, flying gecko, exhibiting the passive gliding mechanism consists of five layers; a layer of
adipose tissue Adipose tissue, body fat, or simply fat is a loose connective tissue composed mostly of adipocytes. In addition to adipocytes, adipose tissue contains the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of cells including preadipocytes, fibroblasts, vascular ...
is surrounded by a layer of dermis on each side (ventral and dorsal) and a layer of epidermis is external to the two dermal layers. The distribution of the adipose tissue IS thickest close to the body wall. This thick layer of adipose tissue at close to the body wall is believed to provide a "safety factor" for the structural elements of the skin ( i.e. collagen fibers) near the body wall. The thick layer of adipose tissue is more compliant than the structural elements of the body wall (i.e. ribs, muscles), therefore will more readily deform (absorb force) before the structural elements of the skin experience a force. The layer of adipose tissue also aids in the creation of the domed and cambered shape of the patagia. With regards to the structure of the dermal layer of the patagia, there is a thick layer of collagen fibers oriented parallel to the axis of the patagial ribs. These collagen fibers act as the structural support for the shape of the patagia, and provide the stiffness necessary to resist shape chang . The most prominent features of the epidermal layer of the patagia are the scales. The morphology of the dorsal scales of the patagia change as a result of their functional role. A large portion of the dorsal scales of the patagia are arranged in regular rib-like pattern, which guide the flow of air and allow for the lizard to behave as an
airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or turbin ...
. However at the hinge joints (places where patagia folds and attaches to limbs), the regular rib like structure of scales breakdown into a more random distribution of scales. This breakdown of scales is believed to aid in the mechanical loading of the patagia during the unfurling process and also determining the extent the patagia unfurling during flight.


Birds

Avian skin is a bit more complicated than the skin of gliding lizards or bats because the presence of feathers. In addition to the counteracting stresses and stains associated with flight, avian skin must provide a means to monitor and anchor a "coat of feathers", thus the structure of avian skin is different from skin of other flying and gliding animals. To better understand the structure of avian skin, avian skin has been broken down into three different functional components: * hydraulic skeleto-muscular apparatus of the feathers This functional component consists of the only of the structural features of the feather tracts, namely the cutis, and connective tissue layer
fascia A fascia (; plural fasciae or fascias; adjective fascial; from Latin: "band") is a band or sheet of connective tissue, primarily collagen, beneath the skin that attaches to, stabilizes, encloses, and separates muscles and other internal organs ...
superficialis. This functional component was named "hydraulic skeletal" due to the fact that the fat bodies embedded within cutis and fascia act similar to the hydrostatic bodies within a hydrostatic skeleton. However the functional role of the fat bodies within the hydraulic skeleto-muscular apparatus of the feathers is to counteract forces generated by the erector and depressor muscle of the feathers tracts. rather than to facilitate movement within of a body. *dermo-subcutaneous muscular system of integument This functional component of avian skin consists of the smooth muscle of the apertia and striated subcutaneous muscles. The smooth muscles of the apertia counteract the horizontal forces experienced by the feather follicles. The striated subcutaneous muscles also adjust the position of the feather follicles in the directions the smooth muscle cannot. Together this system acts as an integrated muscular system that properly positions the feather tracts on the body of the bird. *subcutaneous hydraulic skeletal system This functional component of avian skin consists of the fat bodies of the
fascia A fascia (; plural fasciae or fascias; adjective fascial; from Latin: "band") is a band or sheet of connective tissue, primarily collagen, beneath the skin that attaches to, stabilizes, encloses, and separates muscles and other internal organs ...
superficialis and
Fascia A fascia (; plural fasciae or fascias; adjective fascial; from Latin: "band") is a band or sheet of connective tissue, primarily collagen, beneath the skin that attaches to, stabilizes, encloses, and separates muscles and other internal organs ...
subcutanea. The majority of the fat bodies are located either between
fascia A fascia (; plural fasciae or fascias; adjective fascial; from Latin: "band") is a band or sheet of connective tissue, primarily collagen, beneath the skin that attaches to, stabilizes, encloses, and separates muscles and other internal organs ...
superficialis and the
Fascia A fascia (; plural fasciae or fascias; adjective fascial; from Latin: "band") is a band or sheet of connective tissue, primarily collagen, beneath the skin that attaches to, stabilizes, encloses, and separates muscles and other internal organs ...
subcutanea. These fat bodies are stratically located at depression within the body of the bird and function to even out depressions so that feather tracts of the skeleto-muscular apparatus function properly.


See also

*
Bird flight Bird flight is the primary mode of locomotion used by most bird species in which birds take off and fly. Flight assists birds with feeding, breeding, avoiding predators, and migrating. Bird flight is one of the most complex forms of locomo ...
*
Fish locomotion Fish locomotion is the various types of animal locomotion used by fish, principally by swimming. This is achieved in different groups of fish by a variety of mechanisms of propulsion, most often by wave-like lateral flexions of the fish's body ...
* Hydrostatic skeleton * Muscular hydrostat


References


External links


Kier LabSwartz LabCenter for Biologically Inspired Design at Georgia TechFunctional Morphology and Biomechanics Laboratory, Brown University

Whole Skin Locomotion Inspired
{{locomotion Animal locomotion Skin