WESTNEAT, M. W.; Field Museum of Natural History: Biomechanical Models of Feeding in Fishes: Testing for Convergence in Functional Design 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 20 […]

DITTMORE, A.*; STRATTON, T.; KELLY, T.; SCHRODER, K.; GEISLER, B.; AUTUMN, K.; Lewis & Clark College: Why geckos don’t fall off ceilings Directional arrays of branched microscopic setae constitute a dry adhesive on the toes of pad-bearing geckos. Geckos are able to easily and rapidly detach their sticky toes as they run on smooth vertical […]

SULLIVAN, C.; Harvard University: Varanus, Alligator, and the diversity of non-parasagittal locomotion The American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) and the savannah monitor (Varanus exanthematicus) both hold the femur in an abducted, “sprawling” posture during terrestrial locomotion. However, despite sharing this non-parasagittal mode of walking, the two taxa differ substantially in their hindlimb kinematics. Analysis of the […]

REILLY, Stephen M.*; MCELROY, Eric J.; Ohio University; Ohio University: Tuataras and salamanders show that walking and running mechanics are ancient features of tetrapod locomotion The slow lumbering locomotion of tuataras and salamanders represents the original form of quadrupedal locomotion employed by early terrestrial vertebrates. Studies of whole-body mechanics show they use the same walking […]

BERGMANN, P.J.**; IRSCHICK, D.J.; Tulane University; Tulane University: The temperature-dependence of clinging and sprinting ability in day geckos. We studied the clinging ability and sprinting velocity, acceleration, deceleration, and power output between 15&degC and 35&degC in the diurnal gecko, Phelsuma dubia. We measured clinging performance of the front limbs by dragging lizards across a force […]

RICHARDS, Christopher T.*; BIEWENER, Andrew A.; Harvard University; Harvard University: Measuring muscle power in vivo and in vitro: Identifying mechanisms by which power is modulated in the Xenopus laevis plantaris muscle during swimming During swimming, in vivo power output of the plantaris is obtained by simultaneous recording of muscle activation (by electromyography), length (by sonomicrometry) […]

SCALES, J.A.*; BUTLER, M.A.; Univ. of Tennessee; Univ. of Tennessee: Force Production During Acceleration in Gravid Iguanas Many animals carry high reproductive loads, yet must maintain locomotor performance despite this burden. One aspect of locomotor performance that is considered important to fitness is acceleration. Green iguanas (Iguana iguana) are burst locomotors, carry a high reproductive […]

VANHOOYDONCK, B.*; HERREL, A.; IRSCHICK, D.J.; University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium; University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium; Tulane University, New Orleans: Effects of substrate diameter on acceleration capacity in Anolis lizards Although lizards are often considered model systems for the study of locomotor performance and ecology, little is known about the effect of substrate characteristics (e.g. […]

ZANI, Peter A.*; JONES, Trevor D.; Central College: Effect of reproductive burden on endurance in side-blotched lizards In most taxa studied to date, reproductive burden has been reported to reduce locomotor performance. However, many of these studies classified subjects as simply either gravid or non-gravid, and did not consider the different stages of reproduction. By […]

PEATTIE, A M.*; CORDER, A. B.; FULL, R. J.; Univ. of California, Berkeley; Univ. of California, Berkeley; Univ. of California, Berkeley: Effect of Morphological Variation on Single Seta Force in Geckos Studies on Gekko gecko (the Tokay) have detailed the morphology of their subdigital adhesive hairs or �setae� as well as their function. The Tokay […]