Strickson, EC, Hutchinson, JR, Wilkinson, DM and Falkingham, PL (2019) Can Skeletal Surface Area Predict in vivo Foot Surface Area? Journal of Anatomy (236). pp. 72-84. ISSN 0021-8782

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Abstract

The surface area of feet in contact with the ground is a key morphological feature that influences animal locomotion. Underfoot pressures (and consequently stresses experienced by the foot), as well as stability of an animal during locomotion, depend on the size and shape of this area. Here we tested whether the area of a skeletal foot could predict in vivo soft tissue foot surface area. Computed tomography scans of 29 extant tetrapods (covering mammals, reptiles, birds and amphibians) were used to produce models of both the soft tissues and the bones of their feet. Soft tissue models were oriented to a horizontal plane, and their outlines projected onto a surface to produce two-dimensional silhouettes. Silhouettes of skeletal models were generated either from bones in CT pose or with all autopodial bones aligned to the horizontal plane. Areas of these projections were calculated using alpha shapes (mathematical tight-fitting outline). Under-foot area of soft tissue was approximately 1.67 times that of skeletal tissue area (~2 times for manus, ~1.6 times for pes, if analyzed separately). This relationship between skeletal foot area and soft tissue area, while variable in some of our study taxa, could provide information about the size of the organisms responsible for fossil trackways, suggest what size of tracks might be expected from potential trackmakers known only from skeletal remains, and aid in soft tissue reconstruction of skeletal remains for biomechanical modelling.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Can Skeletal Surface Area Predict in vivo Foot Surface Area? E. Catherine Strickson,John R. Hutchinson,David M. Wilkinson,Peter L. Falkingham, seen published in final form at https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/joa.13090. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	0903 Biomedical Engineering, 1116 Medical Physiology
Subjects:	Q Science > QM Human anatomy
Divisions:	Natural Sciences & Psychology (closed 31 Aug 19)
Publisher:	Wiley
Date Deposited:	04 Sep 2019 09:11
Last Modified:	29 Oct 2021 11:15
DOI or ID number:	10.1111/joa.13090
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/11272

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