2014/06/06 by Lewis G. Halsey, Christopher J. Tyler, Algis Kuliukas · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Psychology · Environmental Science · Engineering · #Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior #Primate Behavior and Ecology #Marine animal studies overview #Foraging #Context (archaeology) #Doubly labeled water #Energy cost #Water body #Ecology #Biology #Energy expenditure #Environmental science #Environmental engineering #Engineering
paper · doi:10.1242/bio.20147831
openalex publication_date 2014/06/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Studies measuring the energy costs of wading in water have been limited to higher walking speeds in straight lines, in deep water. However, much foraging in water, by both humans and other primates, is conducted in the shallows and at low speeds of locomotion that include elements of turning, as befits searching for cryptic or hidden foods within a patch. The present study brings together data on the rate of oxygen consumption during wading by humans from previous studies, and augments these with new data for wading in shallower depths, with slower and more tortuous walking, to obtain a better understanding both of the absolute costs of wading in typical scenarios of aquatic foraging and of how the cost of wading varies as a function of water depth and speed of locomotion. Previous and present data indicate that, at low speeds, wading has a similar energetic cost to walking on land, particularly at lower water depths, and only at higher speeds is the cost of wading noticeably more expensive than when water is absent. This is probably explained by the relatively small volume of water that must be displaced during locomotion in shallow waters coupled with the compensating support to the limbs that the water affords. The support to the limbs/body provided by water is discussed further, in the context of bipedal locomotion by non-human primates during wading.