Tails stabilize landing of gliding geckos crashing head-first into tree trunks

Robert Siddall,Ardian Jusufi,Greg Byrnes,Robert J Full

doi:10.1038/s42003-021-02378-6

Abstract

Animals use diverse solutions to land on vertical surfaces. Here we show the unique landing of the gliding gecko, Hemidactylus platyurus. Our high-speed video footage in the Southeast Asian rainforest capturing the first recorded, subcritical, short-range glides revealed that geckos did not markedly decrease velocity prior to impact. Unlike specialized gliders, geckos crashed head-first with the tree trunk at 6.0 ± 0.9 m/s (~140 body lengths per second) followed by an enormous pitchback of their head and torso 103 ± 34° away from the tree trunk anchored by only their hind limbs and tail. A dynamic mathematical model pointed to the utility of tails for the fall arresting response (FAR) upon landing. We tested predictions by measuring foot forces during landing of a soft, robotic physical model with an active tail reflex triggered by forefoot contact. As in wild animals, greater landing success was found for tailed robots. Experiments showed that longer tails with an active tail reflex resulted in the lower adhesive foot forces necessary for stabilizing successful landings, with a tail shortened to 25% requiring over twice the adhesive foot force.

Highlights

Animals use diverse solutions to land on vertical surfaces
Geckos running at high-speed up a vertical surface encountering a slippery patch initiate a tail reflex in less than 30 msec that pushes their tail into the surface preventing pitch-back
Further investigation of geckos falling with their backs to the ground shows that a swing of their tail generates a rapid zero-angular momentum, air-righting response in just over msec

Summary

Introduction

Animals use diverse solutions to land on vertical surfaces. Here we show the unique landing of the gliding gecko, Hemidactylus platyurus. We launched the robotic physical model at the landing angle observed in geckos toward a vertically oriented force platform (Supplementary Movie 3).

Results

Conclusion