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Research of the Poly-PEDAL Lab
Comparative physiology and biomechanics are our areas of interest. We quantify whole animal performance and address its mechanistic bases. We focus primarily on locomotor performance because it is a readily quantifiable behavior which often has ecological and evolutionary significance. Our research program deals with the energetics and dynamics of terrestrial locomotion.
An understanding of diverse animals promises to yield the "architectural secrets" that will aid in the development of a general theory of animal locomotion and animal design. General principles can then be used as hypotheses to explain the remarkable diversity in physiology and morphology. Diversity enables discovery.
Diversity of organisms. Our approach is not limited to a particular group of animals. However, the study of arthropod, amphibian and reptilian locomotion has proved to be most rewarding. It is very important to realize that we do not study these animals simply because we want to know something about how they move, although many of them do have an important impact on ecology (such as being pests or to be used as a bio-control agent). We study them to discover general principles about how muscles and skeletons work. We do not study them because we like them. Many of them are actually disgusting, but they tell us secrets of nature that we cannot find out from studying one species, like humans.
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