![]() Open-flow respirometry and high-speed filming were simultaneously used to measure the metabolic cost of transport and to quantify limb kinematics, respectively. ![]() ![]() Here, Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoises ( Testudo graeca) were trained to walk on a treadmill. However, there are only two published experimental reports of the energetics of locomotion in tortoises, and these data show high variability. ![]() The metabolic efficiency of their terrestrial locomotion is explainable by their walking gait biomechanics and the specialisation of their limb muscle physiology, which embodies a predominance of energy-efficient slow-twitch type I muscle fibres. Testudines appear to be an exception to this rule, as previous studies indicate that, for their body mass, they are economical walkers. For most animals, the metabolic cost of transport (CoT) is close to the value predicted for their body mass. Tortoises are famed for their slow locomotion, which is in part related to their herbivorous diet and the constraints imposed by their protective shells.
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