Investigating the locomotion of the sandfish in desert sand using NMR-Imaging
- The sandfish (Scincus scincus) is a lizard having the remarkable ability to move through desert sand for significant distances. It is well adapted to living in loose sand by virtue of a combination of morphological and behavioural specializations. We investigated the bodyform of the sandfish using 3D-laserscanning and explored its locomotion in loose desert sand using fast nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging. The sandfish exhibits an in-plane meandering motion with a frequency of about 3 Hz and an amplitude of about half its body length accompanied by swimming-like (or trotting) movements of its limbs. No torsion of the body was observed, a movement required for a digging-behaviour. Simple calculations based on the Janssen model for granular material related to our findings on bodyform and locomotor behaviour render a local decompaction of the sand surrounding the moving sandfish very likely. Thus the sand locally behaves as a viscous fluid and not as a solid material. In this fluidised sand the sandfish is able to “swim” using its limbs.
Verfasserangaben: | Werner Baumgartner, Florian Fidler, Agnes Weth, Martin Habbecke, Peter Jakob, Christoph ButenwegORCiD, Wolfgang Böhme |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003309 |
ISSN: | 1932-6203 |
Titel des übergeordneten Werkes (Englisch): | PLOS ONE |
Verlag: | Plos |
Verlagsort: | San Francisco, California, US |
Dokumentart: | Wissenschaftlicher Artikel |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Erscheinungsjahr: | 2008 |
Datum der Publikation (Server): | 20.02.2024 |
Freies Schlagwort / Tag: | body limbs; deserts; lizards; magnetic resonance imaging; swimming |
Jahrgang: | 3 |
Ausgabe / Heft: | 10 |
Umfang: | e3309 |
Link: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003309 |
Zugriffsart: | weltweit |
Fachbereiche und Einrichtungen: | FH Aachen / Fachbereich Energietechnik |
open_access (DINI-Set): | open_access |
collections: | Verlag / PLOS |
Open Access / Gold | |
Lizenz (Deutsch): | ![]() |