Doctoral Research
Both bipedal and quadrupedal rodents are native to Old World deserts. Despite radically divergent locomotion, they share food source, predators, and activity period. While the quadrupedal rodents can be easily compared to the locomotion of other previously characterized quadrupeds, the bipedal rodents (Jerboas of the family Dipodidae) use a diverse set of jumps, hops, and skips that are difficult to compare to other bipeds. The trajectory of jerboas is also significantly more erratic than the sympatric quadrupeds.
In the lab, I used inverse dynamics to characterize the forces exerted by bipedal jerboas (J. jaculus) when jumping vertically, as well as the relative contributions of individual muscles and tendons to the jump.
I collected trajectories of bipedal jerboas (A. elater, D. sagitta) and sympatric quadrupedal jirds (M. meridianus) in the field to quantify the maximum performance and predictability of the escape behavior of these species in natural conditions.
Understanding both how the behavior is produced and exhibited in nature can reveal locomotor adaptation to predatory selective pressure and how these particular bipedal and quadrupedal desert rodents continue to live in sympatry.
