Meeting Abstract

58.1  Thursday, Jan. 6  The effects of perch stability on jumping performance and kinematics in green anole lizards (Anolis carolinensis) GILMAN, C.A.*; IRSCHICK, D.J.; University of Massachusetts Amherst cgilman@bio.umass.edu

Animals often rely on jumping as a means to evade predators, pursue prey, defend territories, and simply move around their habitats. Anoline lizards are particularly good model systems because they regularly use jumping as a means of moving about their habitat. To understand how jumping performance and kinematics (e.g., take-off angle, jump duration) are affected by conditions anoles experience in the wild, one must examine a wide range of conditions, including tail autotomy, load carrying, and varied perch diameter. However, prior studies on these factors have assumed a stable perch, which is often not valid in nature. Many anole species occupy habitats in which they must jump to and from unsteady perches, e.g., narrow branches, twigs, grass, and leaves. Anoles are therefore faced with jump sites that potentially decrease performance as perch flexion counteracts the force exerted by the hind limbs. In this study we investigated how perch instability affects the key jumping variables jump distance, jump duration, jump height, jump velocity, and acceleration, in the arboreal green anole Anolis carolinensis. We examined jumping from perches of several varying stiffnesses using flexible wood covered with mesh screening to provide traction.