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Full-Text Articles in Kinesiology
Locomotion And Life History In A Leaping Primate: Mechanics And Energetics Of Movement Throughout The Propithecus Lifespan, Nicholas Heslep
Locomotion And Life History In A Leaping Primate: Mechanics And Energetics Of Movement Throughout The Propithecus Lifespan, Nicholas Heslep
Masters Theses, 2020-current
Arboreal primates are typically altricial, exhibit long juvenile periods, and use dynamic locomotor behaviors that can be challenging and risky. Sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi) have particularly slow life histories for their size, with long juvenile periods, protracted reproductive careers, and long life spans. Slow somatic growth poses potential mechanical challenges for juvenile sifaka who use thigh-powered vertical clinging and leaping to follow group members during travel. I examined mechanical and energetic costs of movement in developing sifaka. I instrumented 8 wild sifaka (3 yearlings, 3 subadults, 2 adults) in 4 social groups with inertial sensors measuring tri-axial acceleration for …
Amphisbaenian Head Movement And Burrowing Forces In Damp Granular Media, Jacob Newell
Amphisbaenian Head Movement And Burrowing Forces In Damp Granular Media, Jacob Newell
Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects
Damp granular media is a difficult environment to study because it is both practically complex and it lacks equations which fully describe its behavior. In this study, an oscillatory lateral head movement and its effects while penetrating damp granular media were tested using a robophysical model. This experimental research was inspired by the burrowing behavior of the clade Amphisbaenia, a group of usually limbless squamates that employ a variety of different burrowing behaviors, but it can apply to a wide range of burrowers. This research could help with both human burrowing technologies and the further investigation of animal behaviors.
These Fish Were Made For Walking: Morphology And Walking Kinematics In Balitorid Loaches, Callie Hendricks Crawford
These Fish Were Made For Walking: Morphology And Walking Kinematics In Balitorid Loaches, Callie Hendricks Crawford
Dissertations
Terrestrial excursions have been observed in multiple lineages of marine and freshwater fishes. These ventures into the terrestrial environment may be used when fish are searching out new habitat during drought, escaping predation, laying eggs, or seeking food sources. The physiological demands for life under water and on land are vastly different and require different functional adaptations. Fish with terrestrial excursions must be capable of dealing with the stresses of both aquatic and terrestrial environments for varying periods of time. To deal with these stresses, amphibious fishes exhibit many morphological and behavioral adaptations. These adaptations have led to a range …
Form And Function Of The California Sea Lion (Zalophus Californianus) Hindflippers: Control Surfaces For Subaqueous Maneuvers, Ariel Leahy
West Chester University Master’s Theses
The hindflippers of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) have previously been overlooked as aquatic control surfaces. Although passively trailed in rectilinear swimming, the hindflippers are abducted into a delta-wing shape during aquatic maneuvers. As the anatomy of sea lion hindflippers had not previously been described, anatomical/morphological examinations were completed via scaled measurements and dissections. It was found that the tendons of Flexor Hallucis Longus and Flexor Digitorum Longus insert into the collagen matrix of the crenellations instead of onto bone and the tendons of Flexor Digitorum Brevis contain foramen through which the tendons of Flexor Digitorum Longus pass. …
An Investigation Of The Biomechanics Of Kinesiology Tape, Jessa Ward
An Investigation Of The Biomechanics Of Kinesiology Tape, Jessa Ward
Graduate Theses - Biology & Biomedical Engineering
Kinesiology tape has grown in popularity since its widespread use at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. Manufacturers of these colorful tapes have advertised biomechanical benefits for athletes, including pain relief and muscle support, without much quantitative evidence to support these claims. The purpose of this research study was to evaluate the biomechanical aspects of kinesiology tape and how it affects subjects’ muscle activity. This research study evaluated the muscle activity of subjects’ low back before and after tape application during targeted, bodyweight exercises. Each subject’s muscle activity, measured through electromyography (EMG), was normalized and assessed using nonparametric statistical techniques. …
Digging Biomechanics In Geomyoid Rodents, Alexis Moore Crisp
Digging Biomechanics In Geomyoid Rodents, Alexis Moore Crisp
UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones
Subterranean digging behaviors provide opportunities for protection, access to prey, and predator avoidance for a diverse array of vertebrates, yet studies of the biomechanics of burrowing have been limited by the technical challenges of measuring kinetics and kinematics of animals moving within a substrate. Prior studies of burrowing have recorded a single axis of x-ray video and/or force. However, empirical observations show that burrowing is not restricted to a single axis or plane. I describe a new system called a ‘tunnel-tube’ for measuring 3D reaction force during burrowing. This tunnel-tube has two separate tubes, one ‘entry tube’ that has no …
Human Feeding Biomechanics : Intraspecific Variation And Evolution, Justin Ledogar
Human Feeding Biomechanics : Intraspecific Variation And Evolution, Justin Ledogar
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
This study examines feeding biomechanics in modern human crania and those of extinct early members of the human lineage in order to better understand the selective pressures that influenced human craniofacial evolution. Specifically, this study uses finite element analysis to examine: 1) human feeding performance, in terms bite force production and craniofacial strength; 2) intraspecific variation in human feeding biomechanics; 3) feeding biomechanics in fossil hominins, including Australopithecus sediba and Homo habilis, species that are potentially at the root of modern human lineage, and 4) the functional role of purported facial buttresses.
Walking And Running In The Red-Legged Running Frog, Kassina Maculata, Anna N. Ahn, E Furrow, Andrew A. Biewener
Walking And Running In The Red-Legged Running Frog, Kassina Maculata, Anna N. Ahn, E Furrow, Andrew A. Biewener
All HMC Faculty Publications and Research
Although most frog species are specialized for jumping or swimming, Kassina maculata (red-legged running frog) primarily uses a third type of locomotion during which the hindlimbs alternate. In the present study, we examined Kassina's distinct locomotory mode to determine whether these frogs walk or run and how their gait may change with speed. We used multiple methods to distinguish between terrestrial gaits: the existence or absence of an aerial phase, duty factor, relative footfall patterns and the mechanics of the animal's center of mass (COM). To measure kinematic and kinetic variables, we recorded digital video as the animals moved …
A Motor And A Brake: Two Leg Extensor Muscles Acting At The Same Joint Manage Energy Differently In A Running Insect, Anna N. Ahn, Robert J. Full
A Motor And A Brake: Two Leg Extensor Muscles Acting At The Same Joint Manage Energy Differently In A Running Insect, Anna N. Ahn, Robert J. Full
All HMC Faculty Publications and Research
The individual muscles of a multiple muscle group at a given joint are often assumed to function synergistically to share the load during locomotion. We examined two leg extensors of a running cockroach to test the hypothesis that leg muscles within an anatomical muscle group necessarily manage (i.e. produce, store, transmit or absorb) energy similarly during running. Using electromyographic and video motion-analysis techniques, we determined that muscles 177c and 179 are both active during the first half of the stance period during muscle shortening. Using the in vivo strain and stimulation patterns determined during running, we measured muscle power output. …
Energy Absorption During Running By Leg Muscles In A Cockroach, Robert J. Full, Darrell R. Stokes, Anna N. Ahn, Robert K. Josephson
Energy Absorption During Running By Leg Muscles In A Cockroach, Robert J. Full, Darrell R. Stokes, Anna N. Ahn, Robert K. Josephson
All HMC Faculty Publications and Research
Biologists have traditionally focused on a muscle's ability to generate power. By determining muscle length, strain and activation pattern in the cockroach Blaberus discoidalis, we discovered leg extensor muscles that operate as active dampers that only absorb energy during running. Data from running animals were compared with measurements of force and power production of isolated muscles studied over a range of stimulus conditions and muscle length changes. We studied the trochanter-femoral extensor muscles 137 and 179, homologous leg muscles of the mesothoracic and metathoracic legs, respectively. Because each of these muscles is innervated by a single excitatory motor axon, …