MONEY, N. P.*; PRINGLE, A.; PATEK, S. N.; FISCHER, M.; STOLZE, J.; Miami University; Harvard; University of California, Berkeley; College of Mount St. Joseph, Cincinnati; Miami University: Rapid Discharge of Mushroom Spores Ballistospore discharge is a feature of 30,000 species of mushrooms, basidiomycete yeasts, and pathogenic rusts and smuts. A few seconds prior to the […]

LAPPIN, A.K.*; PILARSKI, J.Q.; PIEROTTI, D.J.; HEMPLEMAN, S.C.; NISHIKAWA, K.C.; Northern Arizona University: Neuromechanical events that trigger ballistic prey capture in toads. Ballistic tongue projection in toads is an extremely rapid movement that depends upon the storage and recovery of elastic strain energy. Elastic energy is stored in the depressor mandibulae muscles and in-series connective […]

ESSNER, R.L.*; NAUWELAERTS, S.; ROME, L.C.; University of Pennsylvania; University of Pennsylvania; University of Pennsylvania: Forelimb and caudopelvic function during takeoff in Rana pipiens The forelimbs of frogs are thought to play balancing or positioning roles during takeoff. However, they may also be important in raising the center of mass (CoM) via forelimb extension prior […]

VOGEL, S; Duke University: Bioballistics: The Scaling of Prelaunch Acceleration and Subsequent Trajectories Biological projectiles, from spores to leaping mammals, range over 100,000-fold in length. If force available varies with length squared and projectile mass with length cubed, then acceleration should scale inversely with length. Thus the prodigious accelerations of small ones (approaching 1,000,000 g) […]

JACKSON, B.E.*; DIAL, K.P.; Univ. of Montana, Missoula; Univ. of Montana, Missoula: Allometry of avian flight performance: contribution of legs and wings during maximal burst takeoff and vertical flight Previous work on bird takeoff and vertical flight has been relatively limited either by the selection of the performance variables or by the phylogenetic scope of […]

KOROBOV, N*; BRAINERD, EL; MADDEN, P; LAUDER, GV; University of Massachusetts Amherst; Brown University; Harvard University; Harvard University: Novel pectoral fin kinematics during steady swimming in a benthic fish, the Longhorn sculpin, Myoxocephalus octodecimspinosus Myoxocephalus octodecimspinosus (Cottidae: Scorpaeniformes) is a benthic fish that lacks a swim bladder and is negatively buoyant. This species uses large, […]

TYTELL, E.D.; Harvard University: Median fin function in bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus: Streamwise vortex structure during steady swimming Flow patterns in the transverse plane were examined at a range of positions around bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus, from the trailing edges of the dorsal and anal fins to the near wake. Simultaneous particle image velocimetry and […]

CHADWELL, BA**; STANDEN, EM; LAUDER, GV; Wake Forest University; Harvard University; Harvard University: Dorsal and anal fin function during the C-start escape response in bluegill sunfish. Axial kinematics during the fish C-start have been studied extensively and the pattern of body and caudal fin movement is well understood. However, there are effectively no detailed kinematic […]

FISH, F.E.*; NUSBAUM, M.K.; BENESKI, J.T.; KETTEN, D.R.; WILLIAMS, T.M.; West Chester University; West Chester University; West Chester University; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; Univ. of California, Santa Cruz: Dolphin flukes as passively self-adjusting flexible propulsors The flukes are the main locomotor structure in cetaceans. Effective thrust generation is a function of the fluke kinematics, angle […]

DANOS, N.*; BRAINERD, E.L.; Harvard University; Brown University: Biomechanics of the skin during swimming in the American Eel, Anguilla rostrata. We are interested in the functional morphology of the dermis because it has a highly organized arrangement of collagen fibers, an arrangement that appears in all vertebrates that locomote by axial undulations. In this study […]