Kinematics
- A salamander that chews using complex, three-dimensional mandible movements
Summary: 3D kinematics and morphological analysis reveal that the paedomorphic salamander Siren intermedia uses complex 3D chewing, suggesting that such mechanisms might have evolved early in the tetrapod evolution.
- Medium compensation in a spring-actuated system
Highlighted Article: Despite the forces of viscous drag underwater, mantis shrimp strike faster in water than they do in air.
- The integration of sensory feedback in the modulation of anuran landing preparation
Summary: Toads, unlike mammals, prioritize non-visual information to coordinate landing preparation.
- Walking kinematics in the polymorphic seed harvester ant Messor barbarus: influence of body size and load carriage
Summary: Scale effect rather than morphological differences explain the variability in load-carrying performance in different-sized individuals in the polymorphic ant species Messor barbarus.
- A mobility-based classification of closed kinematic chains in biomechanics and implications for motor control
Summary: Using examples of biomechanical systems from fishes, birds and humans, this Commentary shows how mechanical linkages can be created or modified dynamically during behaviors in order to improve motor control.
- Escape responses of fish: a review of the diversity in motor control, kinematics and behaviour
Summary: This Review focuses on the diversity of the kinematics and neural control of escape responses and other accelerative motions that are of fundamental importance for predator–prey interactions and in other behavioural contexts.
- Beyond power amplification: latch-mediated spring actuation is an emerging framework for the study of diverse elastic systems
Summary: A framework centered on the dynamic interactions of springs and latches enables clear, comparable measurements and productive interdisciplinary pathways for biological analysis and engineering design.
- Reorientation and propulsion in fast-starting zebrafish larvae: an inverse dynamics analysis
Summary: Fish larvae may independently adjust the direction and speed of their fast start escape response, a manoeuvre crucial for survival.
- Shearing overbite and asymmetrical jaw motions facilitate food breakdown in a freshwater stingray, Potamotrygon motoro
Highlighted Article: Chewing in a freshwater stingray includes overbite cycles that exert shear forces on the food in a manner convergent with mammalian mastication.
- Dragonflies use underdamped pursuit to chase conspecifics
Highlighted Article: Territorial dragonflies pursuing conspecifics use an underdamped interception strategy, resulting in oscillating pursuit paths that may serve to intimidate or herd intruders out of the territory.