Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Xiaotian Zhang, Noel Naughton, Tejaswin Parthasarathy, Mattia Gazzola
Summary: This study looks into the locomotion strategies of limbless terrestrial animals, explaining 3D gait alterations and adaptations to heterogeneous terrains through local friction modulation. By modeling and experiments, the authors provide insights into passive snake navigation in complex topographies and propose a unified view connecting active and passive 3D mechanics with heterogeneous interfacial effects. They also present a mathematical argument for the evolution of sidewinding gaits and reinforce the analogy between limbless terrestrial locomotion and optics.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Lucy R. Mason, Rhys E. Green, Graham J. M. Hirons, Andrew M. J. Skinner, Stephanie C. Peault, Emily V. Upcott, Erica Wells, David J. Wilding, Jennifer Smart
Summary: For ground-nesting and colonial bird species, predation of eggs and chicks can negatively impact population growth. Management tools are available for reducing impacts of mammalian predators on waders breeding in lowland wet grassland, but solutions are limited for raptor predation. Diversionary feeding (DF) has been successful in redirecting raptors' diet away from target prey species. Providing DF near prey colonies can reduce predation, as shown in a five-year field experiment targeting red kites preying on lapwing chicks.
JOURNAL FOR NATURE CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Zoology
Masaya Iijima, Jim Darlington, V. David Munteanu, Kent A. Vliet, Richard W. Blob
Summary: Scaling of body shape, gait, limb kinematics, and kinetics can inform about mechanical and energetic constraints influencing animal locomotion on land. However, our knowledge of terrestrial locomotion among tetrapods is biased toward animals that use parasagittal limb postures (mammals and birds). Whether species that use non-parasagittal limb postures (e.g., crocodylians and lizards) share similar scaling principles remains uncertain, especially toward the larger end of the body size spectrum. These results highlight the numerous changes in body proportions and locomotor performance that are required among animals that use non-parasagittal limb posture, as they grow from neonatal sizes into large adults.
INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Keegan Lutek, Kathleen L. Foster, Emily M. Standen
Summary: This study investigates the gradual changes in swimming and walking behavior in the African lungfish and finds that walking is based on swimming-like muscle activity and kinematic differences are due to mechanical constraints. The coordination of pectoral fin movements also gradually changes with water depth, but the neuromuscular patterning remains similar.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Xinwei Li, Bingze He, Zhipeng Deng, Yixi Chen, Duojin Wang, Yuanjie Fan, Hao Su, Hongliu Yu
Summary: This paper proposes a strategy to enhance the efficiency of BWS treadmill training by regulating the height of the BWS system to track the height of the subject's center of mass. The strategy improves the stability of CoM height during training, increases the stance phase duration of the paretic side, and promotes gait symmetry. Additionally, it increases the ranges of motion for hip and knee joints compared to constant weight support.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NEURAL SYSTEMS AND REHABILITATION ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Biology
Chanwoo Chun, Tirthabir Biswas, Vikas Bhandawat
Summary: The changes in walking speed in Drosophila are mainly characterized by the modified tripod gait, which only changes marginally with speed. The stiffness of the spring is mainly mediated by the change in tripod shape rather than individual leg stiffness. The variations in kinematics among insects can be explained by the effect of tripod shape on mechanics, and the ARSLIP model can effectively capture these variations.
Article
Zoology
Amy Y. Cheu, Samantha A. Reed, Sara D. Mann, Philip J. Bergmann
Summary: Many animals transition between different media while navigating their environments, and this study found that brown anole lizards exhibit performance and kinematic differences between running on land and water. The findings suggest that animals can adapt to novel environments by modulating their kinematics.
INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Robert J. Brocklehurst, Philip Fahn-Lai, Sophie Regnault, Stephanie E. Pierce
Summary: This study reveals the functional variation between postural grades and the evolutionary trend of parasagittal postures during synapsid evolution by building forelimb musculoskeletal models of extant species.
Article
Zoology
Zachary M. G. Quigley, Richard W. Blob, Sandy M. Kawano
Summary: Terrestrial and aquatic environments present different challenges for animals, but amphibious behaviors have evolved multiple times in vertebrates. This study used mudskippers as a model to understand the locomotion of early tetrapods on land and found that their pectoral fin kinematics were similar to those of early tetrapods, providing new insights into the biomechanics of using fins versus limbs for terrestrial movement.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART A-ECOLOGICAL AND INTEGRATIVE PHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Katrina E. Jones, Blake Dickson, Kenneth D. Angielczyk, Stephanie E. Pierce
Summary: The research used combinatorial optimization to determine the functional trade-offs associated with vertebral morphology evolution during the transition from synapsids to mammals, highlighting its complexity and differences from extant animals. The results support the view that this evolutionary process involved more functional changes and regionalization of the backbone.
Article
Engineering, Mechanical
Kun Xu, Hao Chen, Andreas Mueller, Xilun Ding
Summary: This paper presents the kinematics of the center of mass for robotic mechanisms based on Lie Group theory, which is important for the stability of mobile manipulating robots. The CoM kinematics is derived using the concept of homogeneous coordinates and the mass translation matrix. The results show that this method is useful for motion planning and ensuring stability.
MECHANISM AND MACHINE THEORY
(2022)
Article
Zoology
Mitchell P. Ford, William J. Ray, Erika M. DiLuca, S. N. Patek, Arvind Santhanakrishnan
Summary: Many aquatic invertebrates use metachronal rowing for swimming, with some using pure metachronal rowing and others using hybrid metachronal rowing. Through simulations and experiments with a self-propelling robot, it was found that hybrid metachronal rowing can increase swimming speed and acceleration without causing collisions between adjacent paddles.
INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Peter J. Bishop, Antoine Falisse, Friedl De Groote, John R. Hutchinson
Summary: This study utilized computational biomechanics to simulate locomotion in the extinct dinosaur Coelophysis, revealing the crucial role of tail lateroflexion in dynamic balance and locomotor efficiency, similar to the swinging arms in humans. The methodology used in this study opens up new avenues for exploring the functional diversity of dinosaur tails in the future.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Emeline Simonetti, Elena Bergamini, Giuseppe Vannozzi, Joseph Bascou, Helene Pillet
Summary: A wearable framework based on MIMU networks for obtaining body center of mass acceleration and velocity was proposed and successfully validated in lower-limb amputees. Using multiple MIMUs on the trunk and both legs, as well as additional MIMUs on the thighs, resulted in high consistency and accuracy in estimating velocity and acceleration in different directions.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Antoine Langeard, Charlotte Mathon, Mourad Ould-Slimane, Leslie Decker, Nicolas Bessot, Antoine Gauthier, Nathalie Chastan
Summary: This study found that estimating the braking index through kinetic or kinematic methods was highly reliable, with similar minimum detectable changes around 10% for both.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
John A. Nyakatura, Kamilo Melo, Tomislav Horvat, Kostas Karakasiliotis, Vivian R. Allen, Amir Andikfar, Emanuel Andrada, Patrick Arnold, Jonas Laustroeer, John R. Hutchinson, Martin S. Fischer, Auke J. Ijspeert
Article
Evolutionary Biology
John A. Nyakatura
BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
(2019)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Jan Woelfer, Patrick Arnold, John A. Nyakatura
BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
(2019)
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Jan Woelfer, Eli Amson, Patrick Arnold, Leo Botton-Divet, Anne-Claire Fabre, Anneke H. van Heteren, John A. Nyakatura
JOURNAL OF ANATOMY
(2019)
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Adrian Scheidt, Jan Woelfer, John A. Nyakatura
JOURNAL OF MORPHOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Ecology
Jan Woelfer, John A. Nyakatura
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2019)
Article
Biology
Michael C. Granatosky, Eric J. McElroy, Pierre Lemelin, Stephen M. Reilly, John A. Nyakatura, Emanuel Andrada, Brandon M. Kilbourne, Vivian R. Allen, Michael T. Butcher, Richard W. Blob, Callum F. Ross
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2020)
Meeting Abstract
Anatomy & Morphology
J. A. Nyakatura, T. Aschenbach, J. Michel, J. Woelfer
JOURNAL OF MORPHOLOGY
(2019)
Meeting Abstract
Anatomy & Morphology
F. Alfieri, J. A. Nyakatura, E. Amson
JOURNAL OF MORPHOLOGY
(2019)
Meeting Abstract
Anatomy & Morphology
T. Aschenbach, J. A. Nyakatura
JOURNAL OF MORPHOLOGY
(2019)
Meeting Abstract
Anatomy & Morphology
P. Berles, J. A. Nyakatura
JOURNAL OF MORPHOLOGY
(2019)
Meeting Abstract
Anatomy & Morphology
L. Botton-Divet, P. Berles, J. A. Nyakatura
JOURNAL OF MORPHOLOGY
(2019)
Meeting Abstract
Zoology
P. Berles, E. W. Heymann, J. A. Nyakatura
INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY
(2019)
Meeting Abstract
Zoology
J. Woelfer, E. A. Amson, P. Arnold, L. Botton-Divet, A. C. Fabre, A. H. Vanheteren, J. Nyakatura
INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY
(2019)
Meeting Abstract
Zoology
J. A. Nyakatura
INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY
(2019)