How do squirrels know to jump away into a branch? Researchers reveal the secret

Jumping requires thinking

The study was published Friday in the journal Sciences, is a logical continuation of earlier work by biologists. Over the past decades they have studied how geckos and crickets as well as squirrels move and how they seem to stick to all kinds of surfaces. But that’s different, they said in an accompanying press release. Jumps require not only physical skills, but also thinking. “They have to do an environmental assessment,” says Robert Foll. “Which branch do I jump from? Can I get that distance? And above all: do I jump or not?”

The future is still a long way off, but understanding the squirrel’s learning process could aid the development of intelligent robotics, says Voll: “A robot sent into a collapsed building or a mine in search of survivors can also face challenges. And then it has to make a decision. Is Do I jump into this hole, or over this piece of rubble?”

Squirrels are quick learners

For their research, the biologists built an array with a springboard and a little more “branch” on which a tasty walnut was waiting. The biologists were able to vary the jump distance, as well as how stiff the board is. This gave squirrels a problem that they also encounter in nature. Do they run all the way to the end of the branch for the jump? Then the distance is short with the branch wiggling so that it hardly provides any outlets. Close to the trunk, the squirrel knows how to turn the jump, but the distance is great.

It turns out that animals are quick learners. After about five attempts, they knew exactly how to jump on each plank. And in the process of learning, board stiffness proved to be six times more important than distance: squirrels prefer a certain long jump rather than a wobbly one.

Masters in correcting themselves

That far jump didn’t have to be a certainty. Squirrels have proven themselves to be masters of self-correction. They made up for a small deflection by swinging the stick up or down like a gymnast. At very great distances, they had another trick up their sleeve. They then briefly push themselves against the setup’s vertical side wall to be able to adjust their direction and descent speed while jumping.

These are skills that robotic biologists can only dream of at the moment. Because they acknowledge in their press release that the squirrel is unparalleled in the biological game between balance and flexibility.

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