Unsupervised learning reveals rapid gait adaptation after leg loss and regrowth in spiders

• Published in: Journal of experimental biology Vol. 228; no. 12
• Main Authors: Kane, Suzanne Amador, Quinn, Brooke L., Wu, Xuanyi Kris, Xi, Sarah Y., Ochs, Michael F., Hsieh, S. Tonia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England The Company of Biologists 15.06.2025
• Subjects: Adaptation, Physiological; Animals; Biomechanical Phenomena; Extremities - physiology; Gait - physiology; Locomotion; Regeneration; Spiders - physiology; Unsupervised Machine Learning; Arachnid; Locomotion; Robustness; Stability; Autotomy; Clustering

Many invertebrates voluntarily lose (autotomize) limbs during antagonistic encounters, and some regenerate functional replacements. Because limb loss can have severe consequences on individual fitness, it is likely subject to significant selective pressures, making this an excellent phenomenon with...