Principles of Animal Locomotion

• Description
• Images (1)
• Contents
• Reviews
• Author Bio

Provides an up-to-date overview of how animals run, walk, jump, crawl, swim, soar, hover, and fly. Excluding only the tiny creatures that use cilia, it covers all animals that power their movements with muscle. The introduction sets out the general rules governing all modes of animal locomotion and considers the performance criteria - such as speed, endurance, and economy - that have shaped their selection. The text then tackles each of the major modes by which animals move on land, in water, and through air. It explains the mechanisms involved and the physical and biological forces shaping those mechanisms, paying particular attention to energy costs.
`The lack of a comprehensive text has been the source of substantial frustration to those who teach courses in animal locomotion. It is a great pleasure, then, to see the publication of this book. It is poised to become an instant classic and will undoubtedly serve as the central source of distilled wisdom on the subject for many years to come.' Mark Denny, Stanford University