Exploring the effects of giraffe skin disease limb lesions on locomotion

Emerging skin diseases have severely impacted wildlife in recent decades with consequences ranging from increased morbidity and mortality to local extinction and widespread biodiversity loss. Individuals that persist with various skin diseases can have sublethal consequences including altered behavior and impaired locomotor function. Giraffe skin disease (GSD) is a condition that results in skin lesions of varying severity among different giraffe (Giraffa spp.) populations throughout Africa. Prior reports have suggested that individuals with limb lesions from GSD do not have increased mortality but rather suffer from lameness. We examined whether GSD severity and unilateral vs. bilateral forelimb lesions differentially impact spatiotemporal gait kinematics and carpus joint angle kinematics of Masai giraffe (G. tippelskirchi tippelskirchi) in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania. We found that GSD lesions altered normal walking gait kinematics (i.e., decreased walking speed and increased stride..., , # Data from: Exploring the effects of giraffe skin disease limb lesions on locomotion

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.qbzkh18vg](10.5061/dryad.qbzkh18vg)

## Description of the data and file structure

This file contains data on spatiotemporal limb kinematics and carpus joint angle kinematics.

### Files and variables

#### File: Giraffe_Gait_Data.csv

**Description:** 

##### Variables

* Animal_ID: Individual identification number of animal
* Sex: assigned female or male
* Video_Number: identifying feature of video
* Frame_Number: video frame number designating the start of the stride
* Lesion_Score: scored as absent, mild, or moderate/severe
* Legs_Affected: indicates whether the right forelimb (RF) and/or left forelimb (LF) had skin lesions; NA indicates that neither leg was affected
* Area_Affected: includes area where lesions were present (i.e., radioulna, carpus joint, and/or metacarpal). Individuals lacking discernible lesions were scored as \"healthy\"
* Relative_Stride_Length: Rela...,

近数十年来，新兴皮肤病对野生动物造成了严重冲击，其影响范围涵盖发病率与死亡率上升、局部种群灭绝以及大范围生物多样性丧失。罹患各类皮肤病的存活个体还会出现亚致死性后果，包括行为改变与运动功能受损。长颈鹿皮肤病（Giraffe Skin Disease, GSD）是一种会在非洲各地不同长颈鹿（Giraffa spp.）种群中引发不同严重程度皮肤损伤的病症。既往研究指出，罹患GSD肢体损伤的个体死亡率并未升高，反而会出现跛行症状。本研究针对坦桑尼亚鲁阿哈国家公园的马赛长颈鹿（G. tippelskirchi tippelskirchi），探究了GSD严重程度以及单侧与双侧前肢损伤对其时空步态运动学及腕关节角度运动学的差异化影响。研究结果表明，GSD损伤会改变正常行走步态的运动学特征（即行走速度降低、步幅……）
# 数据来源：长颈鹿皮肤病肢体损伤对运动能力的影响（Exploring the effects of giraffe skin disease limb lesions on locomotion）
数据集DOI: [10.5061/dryad.qbzkh18vg](10.5061/dryad.qbzkh18vg)

## 数据与文件结构说明
本文件包含肢体时空运动学及腕关节角度运动学相关数据。

### 文件与变量
#### 文件：Giraffe_Gait_Data.csv
**描述：**
##### 变量
* Animal_ID：个体识别编号
* Sex：性别，赋值为雌性或雄性
* Video_Number：视频识别标识
* Frame_Number：标识步幅起始的视频帧编号
* Lesion_Score：损伤评分，分为无损伤、轻度损伤以及中度/重度损伤三类
* Legs_Affected：指明右侧前肢（RF）和/或左侧前肢（LF）是否存在皮肤损伤；NA代表双侧前肢均无损伤
* Area_Affected：包含损伤所在的部位（即桡尺骨、腕关节以及/或者掌骨）。无明显损伤的个体被记为"健康"
* Relative_Stride_Length：相对步长……