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Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Where Have All the Giants Gone? How Animals Deal with the Problem of Size
PLoS Biology, Vol.15(1), pp.1-10
2017
Abstract
The survival of both the hunter and the hunted often comes down to speed. Yet how fast an animal can run is intricately linked to its size, such that the fastest animals are not the biggest nor the smallest. The ability to maintain high speeds is dependent on the body's capacity to withstand the high stresses involved with locomotion. Yet even when standing still, scaling principles would suggest that the mechanical stress an animal feels will increase in greater demand than its body can support. So if big animals want to be fast, they must find solutions to overcome these high stresses. This article explores the ways in which extant animals mitigate size-related increases in musculoskeletal stress in an effort to help understand where all the giants have gone.
Details
- Title
- Where Have All the Giants Gone? How Animals Deal with the Problem of Size
- Authors
- Taylor J M Dick (Author) - Simon Fraser University, CanadaChristofer J Clemente (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
- Publication details
- PLoS Biology, Vol.15(1), pp.1-10
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science
- Date published
- 2017
- DOI
- 10.1371/journal.pbio.2000473
- ISSN
- 1544-9173; 1544-9173
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2017 Dick, Clemente. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99451019302621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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