What question did this study set out to answer?

To determine how locomotion speed and stride frequency scale with body mass across quadrupeds, and to identify the biomechanical determinants of size-related differences in energy cost.

September 1, 1988Journal of Experimental Biology

Speed, Stride Frequency and Energy Cost Per Stride: How Do They Change With Body Size and Gait?

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To determine how locomotion speed and stride frequency scale with body mass across quadrupeds, and to identify the biomechanical determinants of size-related differences in energy cost.
Measured treadmill speed and stride frequency across trot and gallop gaits in 16 wild and domestic quadruped species weighing from 30 g (mice) to 200 kg (horses).
Calculated equivalent speeds across sizes and combined kinematic data with previously published metabolic rates to compute mass-specific energetic cost per stride.
Sustained speeds scaled with body mass to the ~0.2 power, while stride frequency at equivalent speeds scaled to the -0.15 power across body masses.
Energy cost per kilogram per stride was nearly constant across animal sizes at equivalent speeds, measuring 5.0 J kg⁻¹ stride⁻¹ at preferred trot, 5.3 J kg⁻¹ stride⁻¹ at trot-gallop transition, 7.5 J kg⁻¹ stride⁻¹ at preferred gallop, and 9.4 J kg⁻¹ stride⁻¹ at maximum sustained gallop.

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Implication

Comparative biomechanical study demonstrates that energy cost per stride is size-independent across 16 quadruped species, indicating that stride frequency dictates the metabolic cost of running.

Cite This Study

Heglund et al. (1988) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a1bc8d05b8f4ede65a90754 https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.138.1.301

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Implication

Comparative biomechanical study demonstrates that energy cost per stride is size-independent across 16 quadruped species, indicating that stride frequency dictates the metabolic cost of running.

Speed, Stride Frequency and Energy Cost Per Stride: How Do They Change With Body Size and Gait?

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Speed, Stride Frequency and Energy Cost Per Stride: How Do They Change With Body Size and Gait?

Key Points

Discussion

Implication

Cite This Study

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