March 8, 2007 — Salamanders swim with the slippery ease of an eel. But as soon as their toes touch bottom, they switch rapidly to the four-legged gait typical of lizards. Because the critters haven't changed much in about 150 million years, most researchers think that salamanders may resemble the first land-based vertebrates. But how so-called tetrapods evolved from swimmers to walkers remains a secret locked away in the complex circuitry of their spinal cords.
Now researchers have replicated that circuitry with a computer model and a salamander-like robot — Salamandra Robotica — that may help tease out some answers. (link)
1 comment:
Has anyone ever analyzed how dogs (and horses)
swim? Do they do anything differently from when
they walk? This is a different question because salamanders swim by undulating (and undulate when they walk). The report is not correct when it speaks of "typical lizard"-like locomotion. Lizards can run.
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