3 November 1999

Arthropod locomotion

1. Some generalities
2. Review of the nature of muscle contraction
   1. force of contraction related to cross sectional area
   2. varying patterns of inervation (one to one, many to one)
   3. same mechanism as vertebrate muscles
3. Review of the nature of the exoskeleton
4. Review of the physics of motion
   1. levers
   2. an example
5. Some patterns of locomotion
   1. some use hydrostatics for skeleton, others have more heavily endowed exoskeleton
6. Many legged creatures
7. centipedes and millipedes
   1. metachronal movement
   2. stimulus passes down ventral nerve cord in assymetrical fashion
   3. legs need to stay out of each others way
8. Creatures with fewer legs
   1. tripod as the most stable arrangement
   2. assymetric wave of movement, opposite legs
   3. length of appendage and stride length
   4. velocity related to either stride frequency or stride length
   5. pattern of acceleration and deacceleration, moments of inertia
9.