Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01002, USA.
Exponent, Inc., Natick, MA 01760, USA.
Integr Comp Biol. 2019 Jul 1;59(1):182-192. doi: 10.1093/icb/icz024.
In this study we developed an analytical relationship between adhesive digit orientation and adhesive force capacity to describe the tendencies of climbing organisms that use adhesion for climbing to align their toes in the direction of loading, maximizing adhesive force capacity. We fabricated a multi-component adhesive device with multiple contact surfaces, or digits, to act as a model system mimicking the angular motion of a foot and found the synthetic experiments agree with the developed analytical relationship. In turn, we find that observations of gekkonid lizards climbing on vertical substrates correlate well with our analytical relationship; a reduction in toe spacing is seen on the forelimbs when the animals are facing up. Interestingly, the toes on the hindlimbs tend to have an increase in spacing, possibly a mechanism for stabilization rather than load-bearing.
在这项研究中，我们建立了一个关于黏附指方向和黏附力容量之间的分析关系，用以描述利用黏附力进行攀爬的生物的运动趋势，使其脚趾能够朝着负载的方向排列，从而最大化黏附力容量。我们制造了一个具有多个接触表面（或指状物）的多组件黏附装置，作为模拟足角度运动的模型系统，并发现合成实验与所开发的分析关系相吻合。反过来，我们发现观察到的壁虎在垂直基质上攀爬时与我们的分析关系很好地吻合；当动物面向上方时，前肢的脚趾间距会减小。有趣的是，后肢的脚趾间距似乎会增加，这可能是一种稳定而不是承重的机制。
