Convergent evolution in mechanical design of lamnid sharks and tunas

Jeanine M. Donley (), Chugey A. Sepulveda, Peter Konstantinidis, Sven Gemballa and Robert E. Shadwick
Additional contact information
Jeanine M. Donley: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California
Chugey A. Sepulveda: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California
Peter Konstantinidis: University of Tübingen
Sven Gemballa: University of Tübingen
Robert E. Shadwick: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California

Nature, 2004, vol. 429, issue 6987, 61-65

Abstract: Abstract The evolution of ‘thunniform’ body shapes in several different groups of vertebrates, including whales, ichthyosaurs1 and several species of large pelagic fishes2 supports the view that physical and hydromechanical demands provided important selection pressures to optimize body design for locomotion during vertebrate evolution. Recognition of morphological similarities between lamnid sharks (the most well known being the great white and the mako) and tunas has led to a general expectation that they also have converged in their functional design; however, no quantitative data exist on the mechanical performance of the locomotor system in lamnid sharks. Here we examine the swimming kinematics, in vivo muscle dynamics and functional morphology of the force-transmission system in a lamnid shark, and show that the evolutionary convergence in body shape and mechanical design between the distantly related lamnids and tunas is much more than skin deep; it extends to the depths of the myotendinous architecture and the mechanical basis for propulsive movements. We demonstrate that not only have lamnids and tunas converged to a much greater extent than previously known, but they have also developed morphological and functional adaptations in their locomotor systems that are unlike virtually all other fishes.

Date: 2004
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature02435 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:429:y:2004:i:6987:d:10.1038_nature02435

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature02435

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().