Functioning Gears Discovered in Legs of Issus Insect

by E.D.W. Lynch at 6:19 PM on September 13, 2013

University of Cambridge researchers Malcolm Burrows and Gregory Sutton recently discovered functioning gears in the legs of the Issus “Planthopper” insect. The gears, complete with teeth, synchronize the movement of the insect’s rear legs, allowing it to jump quickly and accurately. They are the only known interacting gears in an animal. The discovery was outlined in a research paper recently published in Science.

images via Malcolm Burrows

via Smithsonian Magazine

Flip

Stumble

Follow on Facebook, Twitter, Flipboard and Subscribe by Email

Host Your WordPress Website at Laughing Squid Hosting

In addition to this blog, Laughing Squid is also an independent web hosting company that focuses on WordPress hosting. The revenue from our hosting services helps support this blog.

We recently announced that we are now offering Managed WordPress, our new hosting service that is highly optimized for WordPress. We also offer standard hosting, including WordPress hosting, on Cloud Sites. If you are interested in hosting with us, you can sign-up here and if you know of anyone who needs WordPress hosting, please send them our way. Thanks!

Please note, some Laughing Squid posts may contain affiliate marketing links, which means it is possible we will receive a small share of the sales of some of the products or services that are linked from our posts.

← Previous Blog Post

Next Blog Post →