Introduction

The Structure and Motion Laboratory is part of the Lifestyle Research Programme at the Royal Veterinary College. The research team includes vets, biologists, palaeontologists, engineers and computer scientists, supported by technical and administrative staff. Our research base is a modern 46m x 17m Faraday-caged laboratory at the College’s Hertfordshire campus housing state-of-the-art facilities for studying the biomechanics of locomotion; much experimental research is also undertaken in the field. The head of the lab is Professor Alan Wilson.

Structure and Motion

Man running on a treadmill Animals, including ourselves, need to move to feed, to avoid becoming food, to find a mate, to compete and to indulge in complex behaviours such as play. Our goal is to answer fundamental questions relating to how and why animals are structured and move as they do, how movement is controlled and the limits to performance. We work with a wide range of animals, from horses, dogs and humans to dinosaurs, elephants, cheetahs, insects and birds.

A wide range of science and technology

Squirrel jumping One of the strengths of this team is the wide range of scientific disciplines represented. Questions about animal movement can be addressed from many different perspectives using, for instance, high-speed cameras, ultrasound, force plates and computer models. Technical expertise, together with our extensive facilities, also enables us to develop new technology to measure and analyse movement in ways not previously possible. Fast moving elephant This range of approaches is complemented by an equally wide range of investigations, from looking at tiny muscle fibre bundle contractions to investigating group dynamics in herds of animals and even phylogenetic analyses of broad evolutionary lineages. This makes the SML a very dynamic, exciting and productive research environment.