Using Unique Hip Twist, Salamander Can Leap 10 Times Its Body Length
Lungless salamanders possess relatively weak legs. But don't step to this little amphibian--they would beat humans in an interspecies jumping competition, at least compared to their size. Several species of lungless salamanders (in the family Plethodontidae) can leap like a charm, thrusting themselves forward up to 10 times their body length. Observe: But how does a slippery little character with puny legs do this? That's what Anthony Hessel, a graduate student at Northern Arizona University, is trying to find out. The initial answer is that they propel themselves with a special sort of motion Hessel terms a "hip-twist jump," a sort of "flat catapult." "This particular jump is unique in the world,” Hessel said in a statement. It works like this, as Hessel writes on his blog: The salamander bends its body into a C-shape and then pushes that bend into the hips (think of a wave caused by moving a stretched out slinky from side to side). As the wave...