Terrestrial Locomotion

摘要

This chapter is about metazoan animal locomotion on land. The animals discussed spend at least significant parts of their respective life histories moving around either in or on the ground or on trees and other vegetation. It considers functional morphology; biomechanics; kinematics; other aspects of bioengineering; and, briefly, robotics. Like the preceding chapters on swimming and flying, this chapter begins with a summary of important points and issues that are the broad background for the detailed, more specialized discussions making up most of the chapter. More general points and issues relating to basic concepts and to biological evolution are discussed in Chapters 1 and 2.