How Animals Move: An Integrative View
Recent advances in integrative studies of locomotion have revealed several general principles. Energy storage and exchange mechanisms discovered in walking and running bipeds apply to multilegged locomotion and even to flying and swimming. Nonpropulsive lateral forces can be sizable, but they may be...
Saved in:
Published in | Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 288; no. 5463; pp. 100 - 106 |
---|---|
Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Washington, DC
American Society for the Advancement of Science
07.04.2000
American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
Cover
Loading…
Summary: | Recent advances in integrative studies of locomotion have revealed several general principles. Energy storage and exchange mechanisms discovered in walking and running bipeds apply to multilegged locomotion and even to flying and swimming. Nonpropulsive lateral forces can be sizable, but they may benefit stability, maneuverability, or other criteria that become apparent in natural environments. Locomotor control systems combine rapid mechanical preflexes with multimodal sensory feedback and feedforward commands. Muscles have a surprising variety of functions in locomotion, serving as motors, brakes, springs, and struts. Integrative approaches reveal not only how each component within a locomotor system operates but how they function as a collective whole. |
---|---|
Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 ObjectType-Review-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 ObjectType-Review-2 |
ISSN: | 0036-8075 1095-9203 |
DOI: | 10.1126/science.288.5463.100 |