WESTNEAT, M. W.; Field Museum of Natural History: Biomechanical Models of Feeding in Fishes: New Applications of Lever and Linkage Theory Fishes use a sensational diversity of jaw mechanisms to capture and ingest their food. One of the hallmarks of this diversity is the complexity of the kinetic fish skull, which can have more than […]

VAN WASSENBERGH, S.; AERTS, P.; HERREL, A.; ADRIAENS, D.; University of Antwerp, Belgium; University of Antwerp, Belgium; University of Antwerp, Belgium; Ghent University, Belgium: A forward dynamic model of mouth closing movements in clariid catfishes Some species of Clariidae (air breathing catfishes) have developed extremely large (hypertrophied) adductor mandibulae muscles. As increased forces exerted by […]

KIRKTON, S.D.*; HARRISON, J.F.; Univ. of California, San Diego; Arizona St. Univ.: Within instar development reduces locomotory performance but not oxygen delivery to the jumping muscle in the American locust During development within an instar, juvenile grasshoppers nearly double their body mass; however, major tracheae and spiracles only increase in size at the molt, and […]

HUFFARD, CL*; FULL, RJ; University of California, Berkeley; University of California, Berkeley: Underwater bipedal locomotion by octopuses in disguise Here we report an under-water, bipedal movement using a hydrostatic skeleton rather than rigid support. Octopus marginatus and Octopus (Abdopus) aculeatus move bipedally on the ventral pair of arms while using the other six arms for […]

DANG, P/D; VINCENT, S/E; LAILVAUX, S/P; IRSCHICK, D/J; Tulane Unversity; Tulane Unversity; Tulane Unversity; Tulane Unversity: The role of body size in orthopteran jumping mechanics Although previous studies have examined the mechanics of the orthopteran jump, no studies have examined jumping in very large species to test for potentially negative influences of body size on […]

CHI*, K.-J.; ROTH, V.L.; Duke U.; Duke U.: Scaling of foot contact area and its mechanical implications for mammals of different foot postures Foot contact areas (FCA) from ~180 spp. of mammals of a wide range of body masses (BM) and different foot postures (P: plantigrady; D: digitigrady; U: unguligrady) were calculated from images of […]

ZANI, P.A.*; SIDENBLAD, K.; VAN DIJCK, A.; GLEESON, T.T.; KRAM, R.; University of Colorado: Low metabolic cost of level locomotion in box turtles (Terrapene ornata): why so inexpensive? One species of semi-aquatic turtle has been shown recently to walk with remarkable metabolic economy. We have begun to investigate if turtles in general are economical walkers […]

RUBENSON, J*; MARSH, R.L.; Biology Department, Northeastern University: Joint moments and powers during the swing-phase of running in the guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) Although locomotor kinematics and segmental energetics have been analyzed across bipedal species, few comparative studies have adopted a traditional Newton-Euler dynamic analysis of locomotion. This type of analysis is fundamental to understanding […]

GEISLER, B.; DITTMORE, A.; GALLERY, B.; STRATTON, T.; FEARING, R.; AUTUMN, K.*; Lewis & Clark College; Lewis & Clark College; Lewis & Clark College; Lewis & Clark College; Univ. of California, Berkeley; Lewis & Clark College; ; : Deformation of isolated gecko setal arrays: bending or buckling? 2. Kinetics. Conventional pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs) are […]

PEATTIE, A.M.*; DELANNOY, S.M.; RUSSELL, A.P.; FULL, R.J.; Univ. of California, Berkeley; Univ. of Calgary; Univ. of Calgary; Univ. of California, Berkeley: Deformation of isolated gecko setal arrays: bending or buckling? 1. Kinematics. The adhesive material of the gecko foot consists of arrays of millions of microscopic, branched hairs (setae). To attach effectively to rough […]