Animal Simulation Laboratory

Fossils, Physics and Physiology

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Animal Simulation Laboratory

Estimating dinosaur maximum running speeds using evolutionary robotics

Monday, 01 January 2007 00:00 Bill Sellers
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W. I. SELLERS, P. L. MANNING

Originally in Proceedings Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences (2007) vol. 274 (1626) pp. 2711-2716. DOWNLOAD PDF

Note: The models and software used in this paper can be downloaded from the downloads section of this site. 

Maximum running speed is an important locomotor parameter for many animals - predators as well as prey - and is thus of interest to palaeobiologists wishing to reconstruct the behavioural ecology of extinct species. 

Last Updated on Wednesday, 11 February 2009 07:48 Read more...
 

Leaping

Monday, 27 October 2008 10:44 Bill Sellers
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Our interest in leaping dates back almost 15 years with motion capture work on a variety of prosimian primates (Crompton & Sellers 1990; Crompton et al 1992; Sellers & Crompton 1994) and a very early simulator that was used to investigate why some primates (in this case the slender loris) do not leap (Sellers 1996). This interest is being brough up to date by the adoption of field biomechanic techniques to investigate leaping mechanics in free-ranging lemurs (Sellers et al 1998; Sellers & Crompton 2004) using tri-axial accelerometers and branch mounted pressure plates.
Last Updated on Monday, 10 November 2008 21:26 Read more...
 

Locomotion and Predator Avoidance in Prosimian Primates

Monday, 01 January 2007 00:00 Bill Sellers
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A Consideration of Leaping Locomotion as a means of Predator Avoidance in Prosimian Primates 
R. H. CROMPTON, W. I. SELLERS
Originally in Primate Anti-Predator Strategies (ed. K. A. I. Nekaris & S. L. Gursky), pp. 127-145. New York: Springer 2007. DOWNLOAD PDF
 
Prosimian primates are unique among vertebrates for their leaping abilities, some small species being able to leap over four metres level, or attain height gain of over two metres; some larger species 8-10 metres level. 
Last Updated on Monday, 10 November 2008 21:27 Read more...
 

The energetic costs of load-carrying and the evolution of bipedalism

Tuesday, 01 January 2008 00:00 Bill Sellers
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J. C. WATSON, R. C. PAYNE, A. T. CHAMBERLAIN, R. K. JONES, W. I. SELLERS
Originally in Journal of Human Evolution (2008) vol. 54 (5) pp. 675-83. DOWNLOAD PDF 

The evolution of habitual bipedalism is still a fundamental yet unsolved question for paleoanthropologists, and carrying is popular as an explanation for both the early adoption of upright walking and as a positive selection pressure once a terrestrial lifestyle had been adopted. 
Last Updated on Monday, 10 November 2008 21:27 Read more...
 

New insights into the plantar pressure correlates of walking speed using pSPM

Tuesday, 01 January 2008 00:00 Bill Sellers
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New insights into the plantar pressure correlates of walking speed using pedobarographic statistical parametric mapping (pSPM).
T. PATAKY, P. CARAVAGGI, R. SAVAGE, D. PARKER, J. Y. GOULERMAS, W. I. SELLERS, R. H. CROMPTON
Originally in Journal of Biomechanics (2008) vol. 41 (9) pp. 1987-1994. DOWNLOAD PDF

This study investigates the relation between walking speed and the distribution of peak plantar pressure and compares a traditional ten-region subsampling (10RS) technique with a new technique: pedobarographic statistical parametric mapping (pSPM). 
Last Updated on Monday, 10 November 2008 21:26 Read more...
 
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