Two looks at how and when lizards fall. First: “Total recoil: Perch compliance alters jumping performance and kinematics in green anole lizards,” Gilman C, Bartlett MB, Gillis G, Irschick DJ., Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. 215, 2012, pp. 220-226. Click on the image here to see video from the experiment. The authors explain: “Many species […]
Tag: lizards
Sherlock Holmes and toe loss in lizards
Fuelled with curiosity, some scientists exploit – lovingly, proudly – the investigative trick featured in Arthur Conan Doyle‘s 1892 story Silver Blaze. There, a baffled police inspector seeks help from the great autodicact/detective Sherlock Holmes: [Inspector Gregory:] “Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?” [Holmes:] “To the curious incident of the […]
Cats’ tongues and Lizards’ feet
Q. Cats’ tongues and Lizards’ feet – what links them? A. Froude mechanisms. * MIT’s Elasticity, Geometry & Statistics lab (EGS) specialises in – ‘Understanding the mechanics of thin objects’. Prompting them (along with colleagues at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Princeton University) to undertake a now-famous 2010 study with the objective of explaining the mechanics […]
Lizards (frozen, then not)
Frozen Iguanas Fall From Florida Trees It’s raining iguanas in South Florida. A remarkable cold snap that brought temperatures in the mid-30s to the Miami area Thursday morning also brought lizards falling out of trees at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park on Key Biscayne, the Miami Herald reported. “We have found dozens on the […]