An impact is a high force or mechanical shock that happens over a short period of time, such as a hammer hitting a nail rather than a hand pushing slowly against a wall. Because of their speed and force, impacts don’t allow materials to slowly adjust to the force, which can lead to cracks, ruptures, and complete breakage. Therefore, living systems have strategies that can absorb, dissipate, or otherwise survive that force without the need to add large amounts of material. For example, the Toco toucan’s large beak is very lightweight, yet can withstand impacts because it’s made of a composite material with rigid foam inside and layers of a hard, fibrous material outside.
Class Mammalia (“breast”): Bats, cats, whales, horses, humans
Mammals make up less than 1% of all animals on earth, but they include some of the most well-known species. We know first-hand some of the characteristics that make mammals unique, like having hair, being able to sweat, and producing milk through mammary glands. Another critical shared feature is a set of highly-specialized teeth. Unlike sharks or alligators, for example, whose teeth are generally all the same size and shape, mammals have differently shaped teeth in different areas of the jaws to target specific foods or foraging strategies.
The spongy bones of humans handle stress efficiently via the distribution of fine strands called trabeculae.
Learn more about the structure of the bone and how one innovator drew inspiration from trabeculaes to design prostethic limbs in Tom McKeag’s “Designed…to the Bone” on pages 58-59 of Zygote Quarterly:
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