News Finding: "While it's true that landing on plant surfaces following escape-induced jumps can result in very high impact forces that challenge adhesive capacity, these can be mitigated by the bending of the leaf and/or stem."
Paper Finding: We show that landing on plant surfaces following escapeinduced jumps can result in very high impact forces that challenge adhesive capacity, but that these are mitigated by the bending of the leaf and petiole.
News Context: "However, it is likely that it could slide along the leaf surface following impact, which would reduce the impact force experienced," he said. "While it's true that landing on plant surfaces following escape-induced jumps can result in very high impact forces that challenge adhesive capacity, these can be mitigated by the bending of the leaf and/or stem." According to Higham, one way to imagine the challenges faced by such geckos in suddenly arresting their falls would be to think of a skydiver reaching terminal velocity and then grabbing a support in mid-fall and stopping without using a parachute to slow down.
Paper Context: In addition to the possibility that the drag coefficient might be modulated mid-air by altering the angle of attack, T. rapicauda may be able to move horizontally, thereby adjusting its glide path to permit the selection of specific landing surfaces. We show that landing on plant surfaces following escapeinduced jumps can result in very high impact forces that challenge adhesive capacity, but that these are mitigated by the bending of the leaf and petiole. Increased understanding of how geckos interact with plant surfaces will yield new insights into how innovations facilitate and/or limit extreme behaviours.