Research Stories and Gallery
This is where we tell some of the stories behind our research projects:
Elephants get a ‘sixth toe’ for Christmas... after a 300 year wait
Professor John Hutchinson and colleagues have published a new paper in Science magazine showing how elephants have evolved a remarkably bizarre false sixth "toe" in their four feet.
Read more about the elephant's sixth "toe"
3D Modelling Reveals How Tyrannosaurus rex Grew
New research by Professor John R. Hutchinson and colleagues on Tyrannosaurus rex shows it was bigger and faster-growing than previously thought, and had some of the largest leg muscles of any land animal known. Read more about this computer modelling study
Automated Early Lameness Detection in Dairy Cattle
Lameness is a significant welfare and economic problem in dairy farming. We undertook research to develop an automated way of detecting which dairy cows were developing lameness. Read more about our research into cattle lameness
Locomotion and social behaviour in a transgenic sheep model of Huntington’s disease
Huntington's Disease (HD) is an incurable neurodegenerative genetic disorder that affects muscle coordination and some cognitive functions in humans. Find out more about our work on Huntington's Disease
Biomechanical research reveals elephants move like 4x4 vehicles
SML have discovered that elephant limbs function quite unlike those of other animals. Read the story about elephant movement
Modern Riding Style Improves Horse Racing Times
SML have solved a century old puzzle — how jockeys can help horses run faster. Read the story about horses and jockeys
What makes cheetahs the fastest animal?
The SML team have been using high-speed cameras and force plates to analyse the movement of this, the fastest cat in the world. See the story and video about cheetahs on the BBC website
Greyhound speed limited by the risk of doing "wheelies"
Research by the SML has indicated that the speed of greyhounds and other dogs is limited by two factors: at low speeds, avoiding "wheelieing" and flipping over backwards; at high speeds, by brute power. BBC account of "Biology Letters" study of greyhounds
Gait Analysis
