Predictive simulations of running gait reveal a critical dynamic role for the tail in bipedal dinosaur locomotion.

ABSTRACT: Locomotion has influenced the ecology, evolution, and extinction of species throughout history, yet studying locomotion in the fossil record is challenging. Computational biomechanics can provide novel insight by mechanistically relating observed anatomy to whole-animal function and behavior. Here, we leverage optimal control methods to generate the first fully predictive, three-dimensional, muscle-driven simulations of locomotion in an extinct terrestrial vertebrate, the bipedal non-avian theropod dinosaur Coelophysis. Unexpectedly, our simulations involved pronounced lateroflexion movements of the tail. Rather than just being a static counterbalance, simulations indicate that the tail played a crucial dynamic role, with lateroflexion acting as a passive, physics-based mechanism fo

SUBMITTER: Bishop PJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8457660 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature