functional gears discovered in insects
In 2013, scientists from the University of Cambridge announced that functional gears, previously thought to be solely artificial, had been discovered in the hind legs of the Issus Coleoptratus insect.
The hind leg gear teeth allow for synchronicity in leg movement to enable powerful jumps. Cambridge scientists believe that this synchronization would have been impossible to achieve solely with neural impulses, because of the longer time it would take for the impulses to activate the jumping mechanism.
Unlike symmetric artificially-produced gears, the insect's gear teeth are asymmetrical and curve toward where the the cogs interlock. This is because manufactured gears usually need to work in both rotational directions, whereas Issus Coleoptratus only uses the gears to power itself forward.
GIF animation, 3 images, plus two videos below. From Smithsonian, University of Cambridge, Nature, and National Geographic.
https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/h...ect_gears1.gif
https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/h...ect_gears2.jpg
https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/h...ect_gears3.png
https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/h...ect_gears4.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8fyUOxD2EA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQk-lP2R04Y
More:
Insect leg cogs a first in animal kingdom : Nature News & Comment
This Insect Has The Only Mechanical Gears Ever Found in Nature | Science | Smithsonian
Functioning mechanical gears seen in nature for the first time | University of Cambridge
This Insect Has Gears In Its Legs – Phenomena: Not Exactly Rocket Science
