10.5061/DRYAD.SBCC2FR6D
Wöhrl, Toni
0000-0003-1373-8488
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Richter, Adrian
0000-0001-5627-2302
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Guo, Shihui
Xiamen University
Xiamen University
Reinhardt, Lars
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Nowotny, Manuela
0000-0002-2854-6908
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Blickhan, Reinhard
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Comparative analysis of a geometric and an adhesive righting strategy
against toppling in inclined hexapedal locomotion
Dryad
dataset
2021
FOS: Natural sciences
Formica
Cataglyphis
righting
toppling
slipping
inclined locomotion
tipping
stability margin
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
https://ror.org/018mejw64
BL 236/20-1 to R.B.
2021-07-27T00:00:00Z
2021-07-27T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.137505
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j4594
https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.094177
https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.098426
https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.242677
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5138459
1077417 bytes
6
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Animals are known to exhibit different walking behaviors in hilly
habitats. For instance, cats, rats, squirrels, tree frogs, desert iguana,
stick insects and desert ants were observed to lower their body height in
traversing slopes, whereas mound-dwelling iguanas and wood ants tend to
maintain constant walking kinematics regardless of the slope. This paper
aims to understand and classify these distinct behaviors into two
different strategies against toppling for climbing animals by looking into
two factors, (i) the torque of the center of gravity (CoG) with respect to
the critical tipping axis, and (ii) the torques of the legs, which have
the potential to counterbalance the CoG-torque. Our comparative locomotion
analysis on level locomotion and inclined locomotion exhibited that
primarily only one of the proposed two strategies was chosen for each of
our sample species, despite the fact that a combined strategy could have
reduced the animal's risk to topple over even more. We found that
desert ants of Cataglyphis fortis maintained their upright posture
primarily through the adjustment of their CoG-torque (geometric strategy),
and wood ants of the Formica rufa species group controlled their posture
primarily by exerting leg-torques (adhesive strategy). We further provide
hints that the geometric strategy employed by Cataglyphis could increase
the risk for slipping on slopes since the leg-impulse substrate angle of
Cataglyphis’ hind legs were lower compared to Formica's. In contrast,
the adhesion strategy employed by Formica's front legs not only
decreased the risk for toppling. It also explained the steeper leg-impulse
substrate angle of Formica's hind legs which should relate to more
bending of the tarsal structures and therefore to more microscopic contact
points potentially reducing the risk for hind leg slipping.
Please refer to the method section in https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.242677.
Please refer to the README_woehrl_et_al_2021_JEXBIO2021242677.txt file.