Tunas and lamnid sharks are characterized by their morphological similarities and their ability to sustain intensive exercise over prolonged periods of time. Such feats are capable thanks to the aerobic or red musculature, which relies on oxygen and provides endurance. It is known that tuna physically uncouple their red muscle and project it towards posterior regions of the body to produce their thunniform-like swimming. Nonetheless, tunas and lamnid sharks are distantly related and acquired their thunniform body shapes and aerobic capabilities independently, making them a case of convergent evolution.
The locomotor system of tunas has been recently investigated, but prior to this study there was a gap in the knowledge regarding that of lamnid sharks. The objective of this study was to learn more about the dynamic properties of the locomotor system of lamnid sharks. Due to sharing morphological and locomotive similarities with tuna, the researchers hypothesized that the force-transmission system of tunas is also found in lamnid sharks.
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