Increase in hydrostatic pressure forces blood from pores
31. Snout detects pressure: star-nosed mole
"Talpids also possess an Eimer's gland, a mechanosensory organ present on the rhinarium. This organ is highly sensitive and responds to the onset and offset of pressure, to sustained depression of the epidermis, and to changes in the angle of the...
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Email32. Juice launches seeds: squirting cucumber
"The little Mediterranean squirting cucumber, as it ripens, fills with a slimy juice. Eventually, the pressure within becomes so great that the cucumber bursts off its stalk and shoots through the air for as far as twenty feet. Behind it, streamin...
33. Xylem conduits transport water: plants
"The transport system that drives sap ascent from soil to leaves is extraordinary and controversial. More than a century ago, H. H. Dixon (1896) proposed that a pulling force was generated at the evaporative surface of leaves and that this force w...
34. Elastic blood vessels accommodate pumping: mammals
"In a typical mammal body, the cylindrical arteries and veins which carry the blood have walls, containing the elastic fibre elastin, which expand to accommodate the spurts of blood pumped by the heart and then shrink again, pushing the blood onwa...
35. Mechanism to seal joint prevents depressurization: spiders
"One particular hydraulic device is worth a little more attention here, partly because its existence comes as yet another surprise and partly because it achieves antagonism for contractile muscle in an unusual way. The eight legs of a spider diffe...
36. Bill used as heat exchanger for thermoregulation: toco toucan
"The toco toucan (Ramphastos toco), the largest member of the toucan family, possesses the largest beak relative to body size of all birds. This exaggerated feature has received various interpretations, from serving as a sexual ornament to bein...
37. Fur provides insulation: polar bear
"Polar bears are masters at conserving energy. During their eight-month fast, breeding females can lose as much as 45 percent of their weight. So heat retention is important, to avoid spending too much energy to keep warm. The bears' fur is dense,...
38. Stems move air: Phragmites australis
"Through flow can also occur in dormant plants with persistent, standing litter. This has been reported for Phragmites australis. Differences in wind speed at the top and near the bottom in the canopy create a differential internal pressure betwee...
39. Concertina movement navigates tunnels: snakes
"Snakes can also engage in what's called 'concertina' movement, in which one or two curves pass down the length of an otherwise straight animal. This works well for an animal confined within a channel just a bit larger than itself (such as a roden...
40. Pads cushion feet: mammals
"Human heel pads and other mammalian foot pads make use of hydroskeletal support; our pads, which provide impact damping, some energy storage, and protection for bones, work as fluid-filled cushions--see, for instance, Ker (1999). They're complexl...
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