New way of locomotion discovered by caterpillars?

New way of locomotion discovered by caterpillars?

(26.07.2010) Michael Simon, a student at Medford's Tufts University in the US and associate with the so-called Trimmer Lab for Neurobiology and Neuro-Mechanics of Professor Barry Trimmer, has made a great discovery, which was now announced before its publication in August this year. The non-commercial US journal NPR has published an article entitled „Good Check: How Do Caterpillar's Walk?“. Michael Simon, it is described therein, examined caterpillars of the genus Manduca sexta with her undulating motion, discovering a completely new kind of movement.

The internal examination of the caterpillars and their movement itself has become a challenge. Because the caterpillars have no bones, it was difficult to x-ray them on conventional devices. A special device in Illinois combined with a special track for caterpillars finally made it possible for the researchers to visualize the inner workings while walking.

The researchers remarked that it was not until inside the caterpillars that a movement takes place before something happens on the outside. This is very interesting for movement researchers like Michael LaBarbera from the University of Chicago. It could be that the caterpillars first shift their mass, or their center of gravity, before the body comes after it. It is also conceivable that this should help the primitive vascular system or, as the professor of the University of Cambridge, John Brackenbury, means that the digestive system should be protected while walking. Because a caterpillar, Simon admits, is a pure eating machine.

As with all studies, Simon notes, it also brings up more questions than answers. Nonetheless, this type of locomotion is highly interesting for motorists. Simon and colleagues consider whether research into crawler locomotion of the genus Manduca sexta has pushed open the door to creating endoscopic devices for the human organism or for search or rescue equipment.

The new findings could also be useful in visceral osteopathy or in research into human walking patterns. It will be interesting to see the results of Simon and his team published in the journal Current Biology in August this year. (Tf)

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