Appendage causes high jumps: springtails. Collembola Collembola Learn more at Organism/taxonomy data provided by: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist Application Ideas: Catch device; storing kinetic energy.
Industrial Sector(s) interested in this strategy: Manufacturing, energy. Catapulting transports worms: nematode. "Surface tension gets put to use by a nematode, which leaps from one soil particle (through air) to another.
It holds itself in a U-bent spring with a drop of water; failure of the droplet to stay together straightens it suddenly enough to catapult the nematode upward and laterally (Dusenbery 1996). " (Vogel 2003:449-450) "The mechanism enabling entomopathogenic [insect parasitic] nematodes (Steinernema spp.) to jump is described. Jumping performance is measured and the contribution of jumping to host finding is estimated. We used the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae as a model species for the genus. Note: The video in the gallery shows the general action, but the organism is unknown. Nemata Nemata Learn more at Organism/taxonomy data provided by: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist Application Ideas: Nanoscale springs that utilize surface tension.
Industrial Sector(s) interested in this strategy: Nanotechnology Department of Entomology Harry K. Legs power high jumps: spittle bug. Tendons store elastic energy: northern leopard frog. History: Tendons store elastic energy: northern ...
Strategy "The catapult-like mechanism that has been hypothesized for frog jumping requires pre-storage of elastic energy, followed by the rapid release of this energy during the jump. The pattern of muscle length change and joint motion observed in the plantaris confirms this hypothesis. Early in the jump, the plantaris longus muscle shortened without joint movement (figures 1 and 2), showing that the tendon stretched to store work done by muscle contraction. This was followed by a period of high angular acceleration of the joint and minimal muscle shortening (table 1), indicating a substantial contribution of tendon recoil to powering ankle extension. Legs synchronize during jumps: planthoppers. Issidae Issidae Learn more at Organism/taxonomy data provided by: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist Application Ideas: More efficient acceleration for airplanes and ground vehicles.
Resilient deployable structures such as solar sails or tents. Making machines that move using kinetic energy. Industrial Sector(s) interested in this strategy: Aviation, automotive. Tendons store energy: tammar wallaby. Although most animals running across the ground exhibit an increase in energy cost as their speed increases, the hopping tammar wallaby can go faster without it costing more energy.
Furthermore the female can carry the heavy load of the infant "joey" in her pouch without increasing her cost of locomotion. These remarkable feats are due to the use of elastic energy storage in the large tendons of its hind legs. During the leaping phase of the hop cycle, the wallaby’s forward movement represents a kinetic energy, and the gravitational pull back to the ground during the leaping phase is a form of potential energy. These energies transform into the elastic strain energy of stretching tendons (such as the gastrocnemius, plantaris, and extensor digitorum longus) when the foot hits the ground.