Sand swimming lizard: sandfish

dc.contributor.author	Maladen, Ryan D.
dc.contributor.author	Ding, Yang
dc.contributor.author	Kamor, Adam
dc.contributor.author	Goldman, Daniel I.
dc.date.accessioned	2009-10-16T22:35:54Z
dc.date.available	2009-10-16T22:35:54Z
dc.date.issued	2009-10-16T22:35:54Z
dc.description.abstract	We use high-speed x-ray imaging to reveal how a small (~10cm) desert dwelling lizard, the sandfish (Scincus scincus), swims within a granular medium [1]. On the surface, the lizard uses a standard diagonal gait, but once below the surface, the organism no longer uses limbs for propulsion. Instead it propagates a large amplitude single period sinusoidal traveling wave down its body and tail to propel itself at speeds up to ~1.5 body-length/sec. Motivated by these experiments we study a numerical model of the sandfish as it swims within a validated soft sphere Molecular Dynamics granular media simulation. We use this model as a tool to understand dynamics like flow fields and forces generated as the animal swims within the granular media. [1] Maladen, R.D., Ding, Y., Li, C., and Goldman, D.I., Undulatory Swimming in Sand: Subsurface Locomotion of the Sandfish Lizard, Science, 325, 314, 2009	en_US
dc.description.sponsorship	NSF Physics of Living Systems	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1813/14099
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.subject	undulatory locomotion	en_US
dc.subject	granular	en_US
dc.subject	swimming	en_US
dc.subject	simulation	en_US
dc.subject	high speed x-ray	en_US
dc.title	Sand swimming lizard: sandfish	en_US

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