Premium
Mechanical Function of a Complex Three‐Dimensional Suture Joining the Bony Elements in the Shell of the Red‐Eared Slider Turtle
Author(s) -
Krauss Stefanie,
MonsonegoOrnan Efrat,
Zelzer Elazar,
Fratzl Peter,
Shahar Ron
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.200801256
Subject(s) - turtle (robot) , flexibility (engineering) , shell (structure) , function (biology) , shield , materials science , fibrous joint , computer science , biology , mechanical engineering , nanotechnology , anatomy , composite material , evolutionary biology , artificial intelligence , paleontology , engineering , mathematics , statistics
The shell of turtles is a shield which needs to be stiff at high loads but should provide sufficient flexibility for respiration and locomotion at smaller loads. We show that this seemingly contradictory requirement is met by a self‐locking material, whereby stiff bony elements are connected by a much softer suture with a complex three‐dimensional shape.