Animal movement

Author: Qin Junde
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2000-07-01
Features: Frogs can jump 12 times their body length, fleas can jump up to 200 times, while larger animals like kangaroos can only jump 5 times. If measured by the standard of fleas, kangaroos should jump to an astonishing height of 250 meters, which is practically impossible for them. Is it that kangaroos lack leg strength, or is there another reason? The mystery lies in this: to survive, animals have developed different forms of movement to enhance their vitality and quality of life. Animal Movement introduces the fundamental movements of animals through an analytical approach.
Detailed Introduction: Animal movement is an extremely common biological phenomenon. Due to this phenomenon, different species in the biosphere have strengthened their interactions, presenting complex ecological relationships. For humans themselves, movement is an indispensable part of life. However, if asked how much we have understood about the principles, variations, and limits of animal movement, it remains a difficult question, posing a challenge to both the general public and scientists.
Animal movement is one of the most common phenomena on Earth. Why should we carefully observe and study it? It can be said that this is driven by our love for nature and our pursuit of truth. Didn’t physicist Isaac Newton discover the principle of gravity after observing an apple falling from a tree? In fact, observing how animals move is not difficult. In the countryside, if you follow a water buffalo, you’ll notice that its hind feet always step in the prints left by its front feet. If you have a horse available, riding it allows you to experience its gait and enjoy the joy it brings. In the city, at an aquarium, you can admire dolphins and various fish swimming, while at a zoo, you can see fierce animals strolling leisurely, reminding you of their mighty pursuit of prey in deep mountains and forests. You can also watch various waterfowl playing and swimming by the pond, offering a different kind of scenery. This is the diversity of the animal kingdom.
However, further understanding how they move, studying the laws and characteristics of their movement, is not easy. This requires learning some basic knowledge, including zoology, morphology, anatomy, physiology, and mechanics. What is the use of such observation and research? It is still inseparable from a love for nature and the pursuit of truth.
When it comes to applications, it can be linked to many aspects of human production and life. For example, the migration of pests often causes disasters in agriculture. The armyworm can severely damage wheat, and records in northern China date back over a thousand years to its destructive impact. Since they cannot survive the winter in the north, they migrate from the south in spring. How do the moths of the armyworm fly such long distances?
There is also the locust, which, when wingless, is called a nymph and becomes highly mobile once wings develop, posing a particularly serious threat to agriculture. Shouldn’t we study their movement patterns? In China’s nature reserves, to better protect rare and endangered animals, it is essential to understand their movement patterns and habitat ranges. This is crucial for their conservation.
If we talk about cutting-edge science, bionics, which has developed in recent years, imitates various biological mechanisms to create useful tools and equipment, with robots being a vivid example. The influence of environmental media like water and air on animal movement has been explained in this book. Gravity is also an important factor in Earth’s environment. China’s space technology is developing rapidly, and by the 21st century, humans may be able to live and work on other planets, where the gravity will be very different from Earth’s. What impact will this have on animal movement? Such important topics deserve early research.