Re: Alternating gait

From: firstjois (firstjoisyike_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 11/10/04 

Date: Tue, 9 Nov 2004 20:47:15 -0500

pete wrote:
>> firstjois wrote:
>>>
>>> firstjois wrote:
>>>
>>> Gait in birds:
>>>
>>> http://www.newscientist.com/lastword/article.jsp?id=lw745
>>
>> I thought that was interesting.
>> My own feeling is that it's the actual size of the bird,
>> rather than whether it's accustomed to branches,
>> which determines the hopping vs. walking.
>>
>> If you double the size of a bird linearly
>> and enlarge the rest of the bird to scale,
>> then the mass increases by a factor of 8, while the cross sectional
>> area of the muscles and bones only increases by a factor of 4.
>>
>> I think that hopping puts a lot more stress on the lower back,
>> than running, both in the jumping and the landing.
>>
>> Kangaroos are noticeably bottom heavy.
>> I think that any large hopping animal would have to be.
>>
>> --
>> pete

Picture an ostrich hopping - must have a great drumstick.

Jois

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