51
votes
Accepted
Why do smaller mammals move intermittently?
Short answer
Intermittent locomotion can increase the detection of prey by predators (e.g. rats), while it may lead to reduced attack rates in prey animals (e.g., rats and chipmunks). It may also ...
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17
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Why do smaller mammals move intermittently?
In addition to @AliceD's excellent answer, I would like to add that a simple mechanistic relationship between body size and "snappiness" may explain the observed pattern.
Basics of biophysics
...
- 67.9k
6
votes
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Hand-eye coordination in 3D space
Short answer
Proprioceptic receptors provide a feedback mechanism from the body to the brain, telling the brain what our limbs are doing and where they are with respect to the body without visual ...
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6
votes
Accepted
Are glands in human made up of muscles?
No they are not made of muscles. Glands are modified epithelial tissues. Glands are basically of two types Endocrine and Exocrine glands.
Endocrine gland
It is a gland that lacks a duct system. ...
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4
votes
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brain and fingers movement theorie
The body indeed uses lateral inhibition / surround inhibition. When using a muscle, neighbouring muscles are sometimes activated to. So active muscles are excited while nearby muscles are (partially) ...
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4
votes
Can a hinge joint technically allow rotatory motion?
It is about the movement of the bone along its major axis of movement. A hinge joint moves like a lever while a pivot joint involves rotation side to side like an axle.
It helps if you look at a ...
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4
votes
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Animals with substantial five-fold symmetry besides starfish? Any land animals?
Many (if not most) of the Echinoderms (to which starfish belong as well) have five-fold symmetry, such as many sea liliy (Crinoidea) and sea urchin (Echinodea) species.
Five-fold symmetrical sea ...
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3
votes
How does a Plasmodium move?
Short answer: Only some stages of plasmodium are motile. These use "gliding motility".
Gliding motility relies on actin filaments, which enable the organism to deform it's shape, facilitating ...
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3
votes
Why do smaller mammals move intermittently?
Layman's hypothesis, but... It seems an animal using intermittent movement alternates between a hard-to-see state and a hard-to-catch state, with some degree of safety in both. Operating at a slower, ...
- 131
3
votes
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Difference between Trophic and Tactic movements
I think that you got a bit confused about terminology. In fact Chemotrophic is an organism that obtain energy by organic or inorganic molecules.
In your case I think that you want to know the ...
- 370
2
votes
Accepted
What is nastic movement due to growth?
Hmm want to visualize. Draw a rainbow. take a measuring tape, and measure the length of the curves. You'll find that the curves from convex, "outer" regions, are longer, and the curves towards concave,...
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2
votes
What is nastic movement due to growth?
Think about say the left side of a shoot growing more than the right side. That way the left side will be longer and will be pulled back by the right side. This causes the shoot to turn to the right. ...
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2
votes
Accepted
Abrupt movements of birds and reptiles vs. smooth movements of mammals
Rats make rather abrupt movements too. I would expect the difference you observe in movement speed is caused by size more than it is caused by being a bird vs a mammal. But why size would matter?
An ...
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2
votes
Nastic movements in Insectivorous plants
Answers:
Sundew and Venus Flytrap show both Chemonastic and Thigmonastic movements. Pitcher plant doesn't move at all. Reasons in Description.
Yes, Sundew and Venus Flytrap show both Chemonastic and ...
- 160
1
vote
Is there "limbic mimicry" in real life to distract animals? (like it was portrayed in "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore")
Locomotor mimicry is what I've found while searching and it is very related.
Locomotor mimicry is a subtype of Batesian mimicry in which animals avoid predation by mimicking the movements of another ...
- 1,107
1
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Is there "limbic mimicry" in real life to distract animals? (like it was portrayed in "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore")
There's lots of different behaviours to avoid angering animals and to avoid attack. There are various technical terms for those things, but they aren't a formal field of study as far as I know.
Here ...
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1
vote
Accepted
genetic difference subpopulations vs movement rate
[..] if a geneticist finds no significant difference between 2 subpopulations that have temporal spatial overlap
This isn't clear. Significance difference between what? What statistical hypothesis ...
- 67.9k
1
vote
If the human atlanto-axial joint is pivotal only, what accounts for the craniums additional degrees of freedom?
The additional degrees of freedom are provided by the entire cervical spine, rather than the atlantoaxial joint alone, which is the joint between C1 and C2. What you're describing as roll (when you ...
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1
vote
If hands are folded with both index fingers parallel, they will come closer and touch eventually?
The easy way to explai the first phenomenon is that at rest, your fingers - all of them - curl. Relax on your bed on your back. No matter what direction your hands face, they will curl inward as if ...
- 24.4k
1
vote
Accepted
Does the anatomy of our hand result in (computer) mouse-accuracy that varies by direction of movement?
Assuming the case where you move a mouse left and right with the wrist and up and down with the fingers, then yes, finger movements are more precise. The fingers and facial musculature are body parts ...
- 51.8k
1
vote
How pronounced is the difference if we would change the running direction for runners?
Been a sprinter for 12 years, so from that perspective, I don't think it would matter. The angle that you take when turning is not drastic enough to have a musculoskeletal difference; step height ...
- 21
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