Fig. 1. Bending coefficient. Dorsal view of salamanders at maximum curvature demonstrating three escapes (A–C) with varying bending coefficients. Bending coefficient (BC) is defined as the ratio of head-to-tail chord length (CL; dashed line) to total length (TL) subtracted from 1: BC=1–(CL/TL). To view video clips of escape responses, refer to the supplemental information section of the Journal of Experimental Biology website (http://jeb.biologists.com).