...Alexis Moore Crisp; Clinton J. Barnes; David V. Lee ABSTRACT Subterranean digging behaviors provide opportunities for protection, access to prey, and predator avoidance for a diverse array of vertebrates, yet studies of the biomechanics of burrowing have been limited by the technical challenges...

... the hotter summer months. Echidnas had longer activity periods and longer digging bouts in spring compared with summer. In summer, echidnas had higher walking speeds than in spring, perhaps because of the shorter time suitable for activity. Echidnas spent, on average, 12% of their time digging, which...

...Kerstin Fröhle; Flavio Roces SUMMARY Leaf-cutting ant queens excavate a founding nest consisting of a vertical tunnel and a final horizontal chamber. Nest foundation is very time consuming, and colony success depends on the excavated depth. Although shallow nests may be energetically cheaper to dig...

...Carlos A. Navas; Marta M. Antoniazzi; José Eduardo Carvalho; José Guilherme Chaui-Berlink; Rob S. James; Carlos Jared; Tiana Kohlsdorf; Maeli Dal Pai-Silva; Robbie S. Wilson SUMMARY Amphisbaenians are legless reptiles that differ significantly from other vertebrate lineages. Most species dig...

...Zen Faulkes; Dorothy H. Paul ABSTRACT Sand crabs use their multi-jointed legs to dig into sand. Combined movement and electromyogram (EMG) analyses showed that the pattern of intra-leg coordination in the legs of two sand crabs of different families ( Blepharipoda occidentalis and Emerita analoga...

...Zen Faulkes; Dorothy H. Paul ABSTRACT Sand crabs (Decapoda, Anomura, Hippoidea) are highly specialised for digging into sand using their thoracic legs. Using video-recording and electromyography, we examined the digging leg movements of three species of sand crabs belonging to two families...