News From the Field

What goes up must come down


October 14, 2014

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Geckos employ an adhesive system that facilitates their climbing vertically, and even in inverted positions. But can geckos employ this system when moving downhill? Biologists at the University of California, Riverside, have conducted lab experiments on geckos to find that when moving on steep downhill surfaces, geckos reverse the position of their hind feet to potentially use the adhesive system as a brake and/or stabilizer, resulting in the digits of the hind feet facing backwards.Full Story

Source
University of California, Riverside

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