ArticleNature communications2024
Predictive musculoskeletal simulations reveal the mechanistic link between speed, posture and energetics among extant mammals.
Article in Nature communications, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Convergent carnivores or divergent dasyurids? Inferring predation and locomotor strategies of extant and extinct carnivorous marsupials from locomotor shape.BMC ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Joint Angular Excursions and Angular Range Utilization During Stance-Phase Locomotion in Terrestrial Mammals: A Comparative Morphofunctional Data Set.Journal of experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological and integrative physiology · 2026Article
- The influence of muscle mass on the coordination required for efficient movement.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- The body mass-maximum speed relationship and the athletic capability of giant proboscideans and sauropods.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Visualizing joint force-velocity properties in musculoskeletal models.Royal Society open science · 2025Article
- Body mass evolution as a driver of morphological and ecological diversity in terrestrial mammals.BMC ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Animals as Architects: Building the Future of Technology-Supported Rehabilitation with Biomimetic Principles.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
An unusual pattern among the scaling laws in nature is that the fastest animals are neither the largest, nor the smallest, but rather intermediately sized. Because of the enormous diversity in animal shape, the mechanisms underlying this have long been difficult to determine. To address this, we challenge predictive human musculoskeletal simulations, scaled in mass from the size of a mouse (0.1 kg) to the size of an elephant (2000 kg), to move as fast as possible. Our models replicate patterns observed across extant animals including: (i) an intermediate optimal body mass for speed; (ii) a reduction in the cost of transport with increasing size; and (iii) crouched postures at smaller body masses and upright postures at larger body masses. Finally, we use our models to determine the mechanical limitations of speed with size, showing larger animals may be limited by their ability to produce muscular force while smaller animals are likely limited by their ability to produce larger ground reaction forces. Despite their bipedal gait, our models replicate patterns observed across quadrupedal animals, suggesting these biological phenomena likely represent general rules and are not the result of phylogenetic or other ecological factors that typically hinder comparative studies.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.