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Soft robotics informs how an early echinoderm moved.

Richard Desatnik1, Zach J Patterson1,2, Przemysław Gorzelak3

  • 1Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|November 6, 2023
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Paleozoic echinoderms like pleurocystitids moved using a muscular stem for locomotion. Wide gaits and longer stems enhanced their speed and efficiency, revealing insights into extinct animal movement.

Keywords:
Paleobionicslocomotionpaleontologypleurocystitidssoft robotics

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Area of Science:

  • Paleontology
  • Robotics
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • Early echinoderms transitioned from sessile to mobile lifestyles around 500 million years ago.
  • Understanding locomotion in extinct organisms lacking trace fossils is challenging.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the locomotion principles of extinct pleurocystitids, an enigmatic group of early stalked echinoderms.
  • To apply a biomimetic approach to understand evolutionary adaptations in locomotion.

Main Methods:

  • Development of a biomimetic soft robot testbed.
  • Utilizing computational simulations to model locomotion.
  • Employing a novel approach termed "Paleobionics".

Main Results:

  • Pleurocystitids likely moved using a muscular stem to push themselves anteriorly across the seafloor.
  • Wide, sweeping gaits were identified as potentially the most effective locomotion strategy.
  • Increasing stem length could significantly enhance velocity with minimal extra energy cost.

Conclusions:

  • The study provides insights into the locomotion capabilities of extinct Paleozoic echinoderms.
  • Biomimetic robotics offers a powerful tool for studying evolutionary biomechanics.
  • Paleobionics facilitates interdisciplinary research in engineering and evolutionary science.