Toads are generally known for their warts. However, the toad’s impressive attribute is its strong, powerful leg musculature. While the jumping distance is noteworthy, the landing ability is what is interesting to biologist Emanuel Azizi. The studies he performed involved the toad’s ability to protect its leg muscles by bracing for specific impact intensities.

When jumping, toads’ leg muscles contract. When landing, these muscles stretch. The body comes to a complete stop after moving at a fairly high speed due to the muscles acting as brakes. To disperse the energy and force of impact, the muscles of the legs take the risk of overstretching and possible injuries. A neuromuscular response to shorten the leg muscles that are involved in landing protects the muscles during larger impacts from jumping longer distances. How much the muscles shorten depends on the distance of the jump. The nervous system adapts the motor control patterns with each individual jump.

These findings can be applied to rehabilitation programs in the future. Neuromuscular deficiencies may be better understood by the looking at the strength and precision of the nervous system adaptations in toads. With further study into the sensory information being reported to the nervous system which enables the quick defensive measures to prevent injury, improvements can be made to the way we treat strains and overstretching injuries of muscles in humans.

References:

Nogrady, Bianca. “Toads Tweak Muscle Length to Soften Impact › News in Science (ABC Science).” Toads             Tweak Muscle Length to Soften Impact › News in Science (ABC Science). Australia’s Broadcasting              Company, 19 Dec. 2012. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.

University of California – Irvine. “Leaping toads reveal muscle-protecting mechanism.” ScienceDaily, 19  Dec. 2012. Web. 2 Apr. 2013.