ANIMAL LOCOMOTION

Animal locomotion, which is the act of self-propulsion by an animal, has many

manifestations, including running, swimming, jumping and flying. Animals move for a
variety of reasons, such as to find food, a mate, or a suitable microhabitat, and to escape
predators. For many animals the ability to move is essential to survival and, as a result,
selective pressures have shaped the locomotion methods and mechanisms employed by
moving organisms. For example, migratory animals that travel vast distances (such as
the Arctic Tern) typically have a locomotion mechanism that costs very little energy per unit
distance, whereas non-migratory animals that must frequently move quickly to escape
predators (such as frogs) are likely to have costly but very fast locomotion. The study of
animal locomotion is typically considered to be a sub-field of biomechanics.
Locomotion requires energy to overcome friction, drag, inertia, and gravity, though in many
circumstances some of these factors are negligible. In terrestrial environments gravity must
be overcome, though the drag of air is much less of an issue.

swimming frog.
Flight
Flying and gliding animals
Gravity is the primary obstacle to flight through the air. Because it is impossible for any
organism to have a density as low as that of air, flying animals must generate enough lift to
ascend and remain airborne. Wing shape is crucial in achieving this, generating a pressure
gradient that results in an upward force on the animal's body. The same principle applies
to airplanes, the wings of which are also airfoils. Unlike aircraft however, flying animals
must be very light to achieve flight, the largest living flying animals being birds of around 20
kilograms.
[2]
Other structural modifications of flying animals include reduced and
redistributed body weight, fusiform shape and powerful flight muscles.





bee flies
Terrestrial[
Terrestrial locomotion
Forms of locomotion on land include walking, running, hopping or jumping, and crawling or
slithering. Here friction and buoyancy are no longer an issue, but a strong skeletal and
muscular framework are required in most terrestrial animals for structural support. Each
step also requires much energy to overcome inertia, and animals can store elastic potential
energy in their tendons to help overcome this. Balance is also required for movement on
land. Human infants learn to crawl first before they are able to stand on two feet, which
requires good coordination as well as physical development. Humans are bipedal animals,
standing on two feet and keeping one on the ground at all times while walking. When
running, only one foot is on the ground at any one time at most, and both leave the ground
briefly. At higher speeds momentum helps keep the body upright, so more energy can be
used in movement. The number of legs an animal has varies greatly, resulting in
differences in locomotion. Many familiar mammals have four legs; insects have six,
while arachnids have eight. Centipedes and millipedes have many sets of legs that move
in metachronal rhythm. Some have none at all, relying on other modes of locomotion.
Other animals move in terrestrial habitats without the aid of legs. Earthworms crawl by
a peristalsis, the same rhythmic contractions that propel food through the digestive tract.
Snakes move using several different modes of locomotion, depending upon substrate type
and desired speed. Some animals even roll, though typically not as a primary means of
locomotion.






Dogs walk