Nature 265, 114 - 117 (13 January 1977); doi:10.1038/265114a0

Storage of elastic strain energy in muscle and other tissues

R. McN. Alexander^† & H. C. Bennet-Clark^*‡

^†Department of Pure and Applied Zoology, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
^‡Department of Zoology, University of Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, UK
^*Present address: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, UK

Storage of strain energy in elastic materials has important roles in mammal running, insect jumping and insect flight. The elastic materials involved include muscle in every case, but only in insect flight is the proportion of the energy stored in the muscle substantial.

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