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Quadrupedal Mechanics - Anatomy & Physiology (view source)
Revision as of 00:05, 20 June 2013
, 00:05, 20 June 2013→Energy economy – getting the most out of legs
==='''Energy economy – getting the most out of legs'''===
==='''Energy economy – getting the most out of legs'''===
[[File:QMFig 2.16.png|thumb|'''Fig. 2.16 Elasticity of collagen''']]
The unmineralised collagenous structures, tendons and ligaments, absorb energy during locomotion as elastic energy, which reappears when the stress is removed, mainly as kinetic energy and partly as heat (Fig. 2.5). The collagen in the limb of a horse behaves like the spring inside a pogo stick (Fig. 2.16). It is the elasticity of legs that offsets for them the inherent disadvantages they have when compared with that unique human invention, the wheel.
The unmineralised collagenous structures, tendons and ligaments, absorb energy during locomotion as elastic energy, which reappears when the stress is removed, mainly as kinetic energy and partly as heat (Fig. 2.5). The collagen in the limb of a horse behaves like the spring inside a pogo stick (Fig. 2.16). It is the elasticity of legs that offsets for them the inherent disadvantages they have when compared with that unique human invention, the wheel.
:::::of the fetlock joint d. of the horse at three stages of the stride.
:::::of the fetlock joint d. of the horse at three stages of the stride.
:::::During a fast gallop and when landing from a jump, the ergot on the palmar surface of the fetlock joint contacts the ground
:::::During a fast gallop and when landing from a jump, the ergot on the palmar surface of the fetlock joint contacts the ground
==='''Tissue proportions and the absorption of energy'''===
==='''Tissue proportions and the absorption of energy'''===