...Claire T. Farley ABSTRACT The goal of the present study was to test the hypothesis that maximum running speed is limited by how much mechanical power the muscular system can produce. To test this hypothesis, two species of lizards, Coleonyx variegatus and Eumeces skiltonianus , sprinted on hills...

... as other legged animals or whether they use a mechanically unique gait due to lateral trunk bending. Force platform and kinematic measurements revealed that two species of lizards, Coleonyx variegatus and Eumeces skiltonianus , used two basic gaits similar to mammalian walking and trotting gaits. In both...

... this hypothesis, we compared the efficiency of the nocturnal gecko Coleonyx variegatus (average body mass 4.2 g) and the diurnal skink Eumeces skiltonianus (average body mass 4.8 g) when they performed vertical work during uphill locomotion. We measured the rate of oxygen consumption when each species walked...