PAST RESEARCH
NICHOLAS WU
Ecological Physiologist at Western Sydney University, Australia
0000-0002-7130-1279
Mechanism of bipedalism in running lizards
Research assistant - University of Queensland, Australia
Advisor:
Dr. Christopher J. Clemente
About:
Bipedal locomotion is widespread among various taxa. Recent modelling studies suggest bipedalism in lizards may be a consequence of a caudal shift in the body centre of mass (BCOM), combined with quick bursts of acceleration, together which cause a torque moment at the hip lifting up the front of the body. Some lizards appear to run bipedally earlier and for longer than might be expected from this simple model and it has been suggested that these lizards have exploited the consequence of bipedal locomotion. I assisted a post-doc researcher to investigate the kinematic mechanisms behind bipedal locomotion in agamid lizards.
Skills:
High-speed video and force plate recordings of Gilberts dragons and Eastern water dragons. As well as digitizing kinematics of these species, I also digitized kinematics of additional species previously recorded before my involvement of this project. Reptile maintenance and handling (agamids & varanids).
Species:
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Gilberts dragon (Lophoghathus gilberti)
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Eastern water dragon (Intellagama lesuerii)
All Videos
Eastern water dragon (Lophoghathus gilberti) at UQ. N. Wu
Race track set-up for high-speed measurements of lizards running. N. Wu
Example screenshot of a lizard running bipedally.
Landmark positions painted on a Varanus tristus. N. Wu
Measuring body centre of mass for Gilbert’s dragon (Amphibolurus gilberti). N. Wu