Fig. 3. Schematic diagram illustrating the orientation of cartilage samples during isolation and experimental loading. Samples from lamprey pericardial cartilage (A) were taken across the posterior portion of the `bowl-like' tissue (note that only part of the sample appears in the three-dimensional view). Lamprey annular cartilage samples (B) were cubes taken from the anterior portion of the annular ring. Bovine auricular cartilage samples (C) were taken for both tensile and compressive tests (D).