Jean-Pierre Gasc

• docteur d'etat
• Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle

Décédé le 9 avril 2015 à Trois- Rivières au Quebec , le professeur Roger Ward a laissé par testament un legs aux Amis du Museum National d' Histoire Naturalle . . La Société honore ici avec émotion la mémoire de Roger Ward et exprime sa gratitude et ses vifs remerciements à Mme Susan Stebbins , son épouse . (B.B ) Lorsque Roger Ward était à Paris...

Granitic outcrop vegetation was compared in 22 inselbergs of French Guiana, South America, using RLQ and fourth-corner analyses to identify the main relationships between environmental gradients and plant traits. At the scale of the whole territory the distribution of species and species traits was mostly driven by a spatially-structured gradient e...

Les rongeurs caviomorphes d'Amérique du Sud et les petits ruminants forestiers d'Afrique ont une histoire évolutive distincte. Néanmoins, ils se ressemblent par la taille et le poids, et par des caractéristiques anatomiques que l'on associe généralement à une adaptation à la course : de longs membres, une cage thoracique étroite, des clavicules réd...

We studied vegetation in 22 inselbergs of varying size and surrounding forest matrix, located in various parts of French Guiana, either isolated or grouped. The distribution of 317 recorded species was studied by cluster analysis, followed by exploratory PCA with plant traits, human use, biogeographic affinities, geomorphological, climate and geolo...

Georges Cuvier stayed four years in the Caroline Academy (Karlsschule) in Stuttgart as a citizen of Montbéliard, that was included within Wurtemberg territory. There he learned administrative practice and management, but he also met a core of friends, young Germans who were fond of natural history. Among them, was Carl Friedrich Kielmeyer, who taug...

The fast gait of jirds (Meriones shawi shawi) was analyzed by means of high-speed X-ray cinematographic film (500 frames/s). The gait is asymmetrical, related to the transverse gallop with a cycle duration of 0.15 s, for a speed of 1 m∙s−1. The flight phase, which can last for up to 10% of the cycle duration, follows the takeoff of one anterior lim...

The aim of this study is to describe the drinking mechanism in two iguanid species, Anolis carolinensis and Oplurus cuvieri. Both live in varied ecological environments where water may be either very abundant or exceedingly scarce. Anolis carolinensis is an arboreal species of the southern United States; in its environment, water is constantly avai...

The understanding of the adaptive significance of primate locomotor diversity requires studies under naturalistic conditions that combine frequency of use and biomechanical analyses. Here, we report on limb kinematics and gait parameters of the arboreal quadrupedal walk of adult free-ranging red howlers (Alouatta seniculus). The data derive from th...

The present study describes in detail for the first time the skeleto-muscular system of the jaw and hyoid apparatus (i.e. feeding apparatus) of seedsnipes (Thinocoridae), a small (two genera, four species) South-American bird family the biology and particularly the diet of which are still barely known. Morpho-functional analyses interpreted in the...

The threat behaviour in Varanus griseus was investigated with high-speed cinematography and X-ray films. Lizards exhibit threat display involving throat movements and associated throat, thorax and mouth movements. The functional anatomy of the bucco-pharyngeal region is described and threat displays are kinematically studied and functionally interp...

Tail autotomy in Proechimys cuvieri was studied both morphologically and histologically. The rupture always occurs at the base of the external tail, e.g. in the immediate vicinity of its junction with the body. It thus concerns the whole caudal appendage. The distal epiphysis is separated from the fifth caudal vertebra and lost with the rest of the...

For the present study, 15 species of pigeons representing the 5 sub-families usually recognized, and 3 species of sandgrouse were examined. The skeleton and musculature of the bill and hyoid apparatus are described. Morpho-functional analyses show that from a key adaptation to the removal and deglutition (without processing) of attached plant items...

Locomotion in terrestrial vertebrates is supposed to be derived from preadaptation in bottom-dwelling fish. A few fish species have been assumed to walk on the substratum, on the basis of coordinated movements of their paired fins. However, the validity of this assumption has remained uncertain, because of a lack of evidence that their fin rays act...

Many studies of interest in motor behaviour and motor impairment in mice use equally treadmill or track as a routine test. However, the literature in mammals shows a wide difference of results between the kinematics of treadmill and overground locomotion. To study these discrepancies, we analyzed the locomotion of adult SWISS-OF1 mice over a large...

The present study compares the forefoot and hindfoot musculature of five representative species of Cavioidea rodents. In all species, the musculature of both forefeet and hindfeet have the same array regardless of the absence of digit I in the manus of Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris and Cavia porcellus. Our results suggest a tendency in these species to...

Mammals adopt a limited number of postures during their day-to-day activities. These stereotyped skeletal configurations are functionally adequate and limit the number of degrees of freedom to be controlled by the central nervous system. The temporal pattern of emergence of these configurations in altricial mammals is unknown. We therefore carried...

No transformational theory could have been proposed before clear definitions were derived for the concepts of form and function. The maturation of these concepts followed the slow discovery of the rules that underlie the structural and functional basis of living beings. This question raises apparent contradictions that were overcome, but still left...

We analysed treadmill locomotion of the adult SWISS-OF1 mice over a large range of velocities. The use of a high-speed video camera combined with cinefluoroscopic equipment allowed us to quantify in detail the various space and time parameters of limb kinematics. We find that velocity adjustments depend upon whether animal used a symmetrical or non...

We analysed spatial and temporal characteristics of mouse locomotion and investigated whether mouse gait differed between strains and environments. To this end, we used two inbred strains of mice (BALB/cByJ and C57BL/6J) known for their contrasting inherent level of anxiety, in three different visual surroundings. The animal position was determined...

Objectives. – We developed a non-invasive method allowing for an accurate analysis of the locomotion pattern in mouse.Synthesis of facts. – This method is based on cineradiography which associates high speed cinematography (250 pictures/s) and X-ray photography. It has been applied to the study of swimming exercise in a constant flow swimming pool....

The kinematics of each joint of the guinea pig Cavia porcellus were studied during the locomotor cycle at increasing speed by high-speed cinefluorography. The main objective was to reveal the functional specific features of these structural elements in each dynamic phase of the cycle and also which limb joints are important during the increase of a...

The gaits of the adult SWISS mice during treadmill locomotion at velocities ranging from 15 to 85 cm s(-1) have been analysed using a high-speed video camera combined with cinefluoroscopic equipment. The sequences of locomotion were analysed to determine the various space and time parameters of limb kinematics. We found that velocity adjustments ar...

We investigated how vestibular information is used to maintain posture and control movement by studying vestibularly deficient mice (IsK-/- mutant). In these mutants, microscopy showed degeneration of the cristae of the semicircular canals and of the maculae of the utriculi and sacculi, while behavioural and vestibulo-ocular reflex testing showed t...

The present study contrasts available biological data and results of morphofunctional analyses of the bill and hyoid apparatus in motmots. It shows that these omnivorous birds, which take relatively large food items, possess osteomuscular peculiarities that enable them to process these items as a whole in order to soften or cut them, and make them...

This paper suggests three additions to the Hildebrand method for gait-pattern specification. The first allows an extension of this method by the use of the forelimb as reference. Thus, dataset could be gathered indifferently from fore or hindlimbs cycles to identify a symmetrical gait or compare gaits of diverse species. On the basis of Hildebrand'...

Morphofunctional analyses of bird bill apparatus by anatomists are particularly important and fruitful when musculoskeletal data are compared with behavioural and ecological field data. These analyses, based on graphic analyses of static balance of forces (derived from common practices in building engineering and fundamental laws of mechanics), all...

The objective is to obtain a 3D realistic dynamic model of a virtual walking animal. The word biomimetism is used here because nature is taken as the example that achieved this complex task. This includes not only the geometric parameters but also a choice of locomotion control. The goals are: enhance the legged robotic locomotion and its modelling...

A morphofunctional analysis of the feeding apparatus was conducted from an evolutionary perspective on the hoatzin (Opisthocomidae), some cuckoos (Cuculidae) and some turacos (Musophagidae). These goups share a common ancestral adaptation of the bill apparatus linked to starting food processing at base of the bill. The morphofunctional analyses giv...

Biochemical adaptations of limb myofibres to intensive bipedal hopping were investigated using the five-toed jerboa Allactaga elater as a model in comparison with the rat. Immunofluorescence methods included immunoreactivity to anti-fast and anti-slow MHC and troponin I. There is no specialization of triceps caput mediale for postural function in t...

The hoatzin remains one of the most enigmatic birds. A morphofunctional analysis of its bill and hyoid apparatus throws new light on its feeding adaptation as well as on its systematic relationships. Bony and muscular skull, rhamphotheca, palate, and hyoid apparatus were described in details. Though keeping into the general organisation pattern fou...

The hoatzin remains one of the most enigmatic birds. A morphofunctional analysis of its bill and hyoid apparatus throws new light on its feeding adaptation as well as on its systematic relationships. Bony and muscular skull, rhamphotheca, palate, and hyoid apparatus were described in details. Though keeping into the general organisation pattern fou...

Fore- and hindlimb muscles were dissected in four species of Lipotyphla: the western European hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus (Erinaceidae, Erinaceinae); the moonrat Echinosorex gymnura (Erinaceidae, Hylomyinae or Galericinae); the tailless tenrec Tenrec ecaudatus (Tenrecidae, Tenrecinae); and the common European white-toothed shrew Crocidura russula...

Seven juvenile individuals of the Australian species Crocodylus johnstoni from the Frankfurt Zoological Park were filmed on high-speed video, at 250 fields s−1, whilst freely moving at various speeds in a long corridor. The sequences of locomotion were analysed to determine the various space and time parameters to characterize limb kinematics. We f...

The clavicle plays a particular role in the shoulder girdle of mammals. In Rodentia the clavicle can be rudimentary in some families. In Artiodactyla, the clavicle is completely absent. We provide data on the myology and osteology of the clavicular region of caviomorph rodents (five species) and the clavicular region of one artiodactyla. The comple...

Kinematics and structural analyses were used as basic data to elaborate a dynamic quadruped model that may represent an unspecialized mammal. Hedgehogs were filmed on a treadmill with a cinefluorographic system providing trajectories of skeletal elements during locomotion. Body parameters such as limb segments mass and length, and segments centre o...

In phylogenetically based systematics, Mammalia is the nomenclatural term which designates the clade stemming from the most recent common ancestry of monotremes and theria [De Queiroz, Sys. Biol. 43 (1994) 497]. Considering that locomotor performance is a prevalent function to provide the necessary conditions to survive and transmit genes, it may b...

The burrowing process of the common mole Talpa europaea Linnaeus, 1758 was investigated by the cinefluorography. During burrowing the humerus is abduced only on 25–30°. This abduction is realized by the rotation of the scapula around its longitudinal axis and by the translation of the clavicle in the sternoclavicular and claviculohumeral joints. Th...

This paper deals with the concept of "constraint", both from a historical and conceptual point of view. It is assumed that the term "constraint", in an evolutionary context, must refer to phenomena which are not part of the process of natural selection. This means constraints are mechanisms for the generation of variation, but not the fixation of v...

Making a quadrupedal robotic machine walk is a problem with an infinity of solutions. Nevertheless, this question seems to have been solved successfully by mammals. Hence a particular approach in the design of walking robots has been considered, based on the animals movement characteristics. Indeed, studying animal walking can help produce a class...

The present study points to morpho-anatomical features that allow vegetarian but mainly frugivorous turacos to fill at best their specific feeding requirements. Mechanisms are analysed which the bird can use to detach a fruit and avoid it rolls out of the bill. It is also examined how vegetable items can be processed particularly when they have to...

The present study points to morpho-anatomical features that allow vegetarian but mainly frugivorous turacos to fill at best their specific feeding requirements. Mechanisms are analysed which the bird can use to detach a fruit and avoid it rolls out of the bill. It is also examined how vegetable items can be processed particularly when they have to...

Locomotion and posture allow animals to cope with some major survival problems, such as search and access for food sources, and escape from predators (Terborgh 1983, Garber 1991b, Cant 1992). Locomotion and posture seem to be the result of an interaction between the morphological features of an animal and the structure of the environment surroundin...

During forward locomotion, guinea pigs adopted a posture which, although different, was as stereotyped as at rest. The whole extent of the vertebral column was extended, parallel to the earth-horizontal plane. This result supports the hypothesis that, in mammals, gaze and postural control by the central nervous system would be simplified by the ado...

The waltzing behavior is usually attributed to vestibular dysfunction. However, the vestibular control of gaze and posture has not yet been measured quantitatively in any waltzing mutant. Therefore, this study was aimed at investigating the relationship between inner-ear morphology, the circling behavior, and the vestibular control of gaze and post...

During forward locomotion, guinea pigs adopted a posture which, although different, was as stereotyped as at rest. The whole extent of the vertebral column was extended, parallel to the earth-horizontal plane. This result supports the hypothesis that, in mammals, gaze and postural control by the central nervous system would be simplified by the ado...

The waltzing behavior is usually attributed to vestibular dysfunction. However, the vestibular control of gaze and posture has not yet been measured quantitatively in any waltzing mutant. Therefore, this study was aimed at investigating the relationship between inner-ear morphology, the circling behavior, and the vestibular control of gaze and post...

A morphofunctional analysis of the bill apparatus was conducted on some African forest flycatchers (Muscicapidae, Platysteiridae, Monarchidae) in relation to detailed eco-ethological data available on these species. The aim was to evaluate relationships between anatomical structures and habitat constraints and also identify the most pertinent troph...

A morphofunctional analysis of the bill apparatus was conducted on some African forest flycatchers (Muscicapidae, Platysteiridae, Monarchidae) in relation to detailed eco-ethological data available on these species. The aim was to evaluate relationships between anatomical structures and habitat constraints and also identify the most pertinent troph...

The hypothesis of a locomotor role for the free rays of Trigloporuslastoviza is supported by: (1) their periodic retraction and protraction during slow displacement over the substratum whenever the propulsive body wave responsible for swimming is not visible; (2) the integration of the rays' individual cycles into a hexapod gait apparently generate...

Making a quadrupedal robotic machine walk is a problem with an infinity of solutions. Nevertheless, this question seems to have been solved successfully by mammals. Hence a particular approach in the design of walking robots has been considered, based on the animals movement characteristics. Indeed, studying animal walking can help produce a class...

Vestibular compensation for the postural and oculomotor deficits induced by unilateral labyrinthectomy is a model of post-lesional plasticity in the central nervous system. Just after the removal of one labyrinth, the deafferented, ipsilateral vestibular nucleus neurons are almost silent, and the discharge of the contralateral vestibular nucleus ne...

Zusammenfassung Die phylogenetischen Beziehungen zwischen 13 Gattungen del Grubenottern werden mit Hille von kombinierten Parsimonieanalysen von Sequenzen dreier mitochondrialer Gene (Cytochrom b, ND4 und 16s RNA; insgesamt 1800 Basenpaare) rekonstruiert. Generell ist die A uflosung eher schwach, was mit einer basalen Stellung del Grubenottern inne...

The aim of this study is to describe the drinking mechanism in two iguanid species, Anolis carolinensis and Oplurus cuvieri. Both live in varied ecological environments where water may be either very abundant or exceedingly scarce. Anolis carolinensis is an arboreal species of the southern United States; in its environment, water is constantly avai...

Spalax giganteus is a subterranean rodent which uses its incisors to burrow. Like all rodents, these teeth have continuous growth and must be worn down by continuous rubbing against one another. This phenomena prevents the teeth from blunt and allows the burrowing rodent to maintain a sharp-edged tool for digging. Incisor sharpening has been studie...

Inselbergs and rocky outcrops constitute functional islands within the tropical forest of French Guiana. They host a characteristic vegetation mosaic (« savane-roche ») having its own dynamics, which is affected by pedological and hydrological constraints resulting from drastic thermal and hydric variations. Previous studies of this type of vegetat...

No previous study of the relative movements of the limbs and of the vertebral axis has previously attempted to understand coupling and decoupling actions. Micrablepharus maximiliani and Colobosaura modesta, from open habitats of Brazil, offer a good opportunity for testing the functionality of the association between the basic locomotor systems. Ex...

Remark: this isn't the "real"atlas! This is a book Review of the Atlas; the author of the book Review is Tim Halliday.

In lower quadrupedal vertebrates locomotor efficiency seems to result from the associate movements of the axial and appendicular systems, which are totally independent in structure and embryological origin. The curvature of the trunk, produced by a standing wave, magnifies the propulsive action of the limbs. In intermediate forms, the association o...

Phylogenetic relationships among pitvipers are inferred from a parsimony analysis using cytochrome b DNA sequences: 396 bp in the 5'end of the gene were sequenced in eight species of pitvipers (Agkistrodon blomhoffi, Agkistrodon contortrix, Bodiriechis schlegelii, Bothriopsis bilineata, Bothrops atrox, Crotalus atrox, Lachesis muta and Trimeresurus...

The striking ability of the polar bear to travel on ice or frozen snow is tentatively related to different structural features involved in the locomotor behaviour of the animal. A comparison with the brown bear shows the specific features, in gaits, leg movement and in ground contact structures. It is suggested that these specific features constitu...

A la fin du 19ème siècle, E.J. Marey et E. Muybridge ont séparément inventé les instruments permettant l'étude des mouvements locomoteurs des grands mammifères, en particulier du cheval. L'observation de la locomotion des petits mammifères est difficile, leurs mouvements étant plus rapides et leur pelage cachant leurs membres. La tachycinéradiograp...

Certains Rongeurs de la lignée des Caviomorphes, tels que les Dasyproctidés et les Agoutidés, montrent des convergences avec quelques Artiodactyles africains appartenant aux Tragulidés et aux Bovidés.

L´adaptation à la course des Vertébrés terrestres s´accompagne de caractéristiques structurales et de l´emploi du patron moteur propre aux allures asymétriques. On note un allongement des membres et des modifications de leur liaison avec l´axe vertébro-costal. Les clavicules tendent à disparaître et les omoplates libérées de leur liaison sternale c...

The burrowing motion of Myospalax myospalax, a mole-rat which mixes head and hands specialisations for burrowing, is studied for the first time. The analysis of cinefluorographic films of alive animals, combined with a specified morphological study of the musculoskeletal system involved, permits to assess roles for the diverse parts of this system...

Une nouvelle description morphologique des pièces de la ceinture scapulaire et du membre antérieur de la taupe commune suggère une révision de leur implication fonctionnelle dans le fouissage. L'humérus s'inscrit dans un carré dont les diagonales correspondent à des axes de renforcement de l'architecture. Ils déterminent, soit des champs osseux com...

The predatory strike of Vipera ammodytes was analysed using high speed cinematography. Slow motion studies showed that the strike is a direct hit and that ensuing body postures are complex and occur within a very short time. Flawed strikes have been recorded and are discussed. Radiographic study of oesophageal deglutition demonstrated a lateral und...

A detailed description of muscular and skeletal features of the pelvi-cloacal region of the amphisbaenian Blanus cinereus reveals that the species has real hind limbs articulating with a real pelvic girdle. Arguments support this homology: 1) a link with the vertebral column; 2) a movable articulation, showing all the features of a diarthrosis, bet...

Anguis fragilis were filmed while traversing plane surfaces, fields of nails and pins at different spacings, and channels of different diameter. Lizards can move slowly on rough surfaces by lateral undulation, but with increased speed (and on smoother surfaces) they shift to slide-pushing accomplished by wide swings of the tail. The lizards undulat...

A series of Ophisaurus apodus was filmed while traversing plane surfaces, fields of nails and pins at different spacings, and channels of different diameter. Small individuals can practise slow lateral undulation on very rough surfaces, but with increased speed, all shift to slide-pushing, using either constrained bends of the body or very wide swi...

L'étude du squelette d'embryons à terme et de nouveau-nés d'orvet (Anguis fiagilis, L.) et de lézard vert (Lacerta viridis, Laur.) montre une constance dans les rapports entre la scapula et un segment vertébral précis. Ceci conduit à admettre que la 3e vertèbre cervicale de l'orvet est homologue à la 5e vertèbre cervicale du lézard vert. La région...

Comparative and functional studies bring to lightthe diverse patterns of snake-like squamata which occurred in several lines during evolution. A general hypothesis based upon the synthesis of the most recent interpretations in developmental Biology and molecular genetics is proposed to explain a rapid uprising of these limbless forms among Tetrapod...