Dissertation
VERTICAL JUMPING PERFORMANCE BY KANGAROO RATS: INFLUENCE OF MUSCULOTENDON PROPERTIES
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2019
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/112364
Abstract
Kangaroo rats (dypodomys deserti) are bipedal hopping animals that have the ability to vertically jump many times its standing hip height. This ability is essential to avoid its predators. The kangaroo rat plantarflexors, i.e., the plantaris (PL), lateral gastrocnemius (LG) and medial gastrocnemius (MG), deliver the greatest contribution to the moment and power at ankle joint during its vertical jumping. To investigate the influences of the musculotendon properties on vertical jumping performance by kangaroo rat, we first measured the contractile properties of the plantarflexors as a group and calculated the contribution of individual muscles to the group properties. Second, we measured the mechanical properties of the tendons of PL and GAS (LG and MG common tendons) and compared their properties to those of white rat. Finally, we integrated the measured properties into a computer modeling to calculate the dynamics of plantarflexor muscle-tendon units during vertical jumps. Our results indicated that kangaroo rats have fast-type muscles with the maximum stress in the higher range of reported data for comparable sized species. Our results also showed that kangaroo rats have tendons with exceptional material properties which are specially adapted for high motor performance. Finally, the results of forward dynamic simulations indicated that the plantarflexor muscle-tendon units, specifically tendon properties, of kangaroo rats are optimized to deliver power at ankle joint, which is essential for its vertical jump. Findings of our research have implications to understanding how individual muscles within a synergistic group can be organized to optimize specific motor functions.
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Details
- Title
- VERTICAL JUMPING PERFORMANCE BY KANGAROO RATS: INFLUENCE OF MUSCULOTENDON PROPERTIES
- Creators
- Mehrdad Javidi
- Contributors
- David C. Lin (Advisor)Craig P. McGowan (Committee Member)Bert Tanner (Committee Member)Anita Vasavada (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, School of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 112
- Identifiers
- 99900581705401842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation