Editing Jumping (section)

==Anatomy==
[[Image:Frog_limbs.jpg|thumb|right|A [[American bullfrog|bullfrog]] skeleton, showing elongate limb bones and extra joints.  Red marks indicate bones substantially elongated in frogs, and joints that have become mobile.  Blue indicates joints and bones that have not been modified, or are only somewhat elongated.]]

Animals use a wide variety of anatomical adaptations for jumping. These adaptations are exclusively concerned with the launch, as any post-launch method of extending range or controlling the jump must use aerodynamic forces, and thus is considered [[gliding]] or [[parachuting]].

Aquatic species rarely display any particular specializations for jumping. Those that are good jumpers are primarily adapted for speed, and execute moving jumps by simply swimming to the surface at a high velocity. A few primarily aquatic species that can jump while on land, such as [[mud skipper]]s, do so via a flick of the tail.

===Limb morphology===
In terrestrial animals, the primary propulsive structure is the legs, though a few species use their tails.  Typical characteristics of jumping species include long legs, large leg muscles, and additional limb elements.

Long legs increase the time and distance over which a jumping animal can push against the substrate, thus allowing more power and faster, farther jumps. Large leg muscles can generate greater force, resulting in improved jumping performance. In addition to elongated leg elements, many jumping animals have modified foot and ankle bones that are elongated and possess additional joints, effectively adding more segments to the limb and even more length.

Frogs are an excellent example of all three trends: frog legs can be nearly twice the body length, leg muscles may account for up to twenty percent of body weight, and they have not only lengthened the foot, shin and thigh, but extended the ankle bones into another limb joint and similarly extended the hip bones and gained mobility at the sacrum for a second 'extra joint'. As a result, frogs are the undisputed champion jumpers of vertebrates, leaping over fifty body lengths, a distance of more than eight feet.<ref>
{{cite journal
  | last = Zug, G. R.
  | title = Anuran Locomotion: Structure and Function. II. Jumping performance of semiacquatic, terrestrial, and arboreal frogs|journal=Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology |issue=276|pages=iii–31  | date = 1978 }}
</ref>

===Power amplification through stored energy===
[[Grasshopper]]s use elastic energy storage to increase jumping distance. Although power output is a principal determinant of jump distance (as noted above), physiological constraints limit muscle power to approximately 375 Watts per kilogram of muscle.<ref>
{{cite journal
  | last = Marsh, R. L.
  | date = 1994
  | title = Jumping ability of anuran amphibians|journal=Advances in Veterinary Science and Comparative Medicine | volume = 38B
 |issue=38|pages=51–111 | pmid = 7810380
 }}
</ref> To overcome this limitation, grasshoppers anchor their legs via an internal "catch mechanism" while their muscles stretch an elastic [[apodeme]] (similar to a vertebrate [[tendon]]). When the catch is released, the apodeme rapidly releases its energy. Because the apodeme releases energy more quickly than muscle, its power output exceeds that of the muscle that produced the energy.
[[File:Morcycle jumping at a country fair (England) arp.jpg|thumb|Two motorbikes jump a car at a country fair, England]] 
This is analogous to a human throwing an arrow by hand versus using a bow; the use of elastic storage (the bow) allows the muscles to operate closer to isometric on the [[Muscle contraction#Force-velocity relationships|force-velocity curve]]. This enables the muscles to do work over a longer time and thus produce more energy than they otherwise could, while the elastic element releases that work faster than the muscles can. The use of elastic energy storage has been found in jumping mammals as well as in frogs, with commensurate increases in power ranging from two to seven times that of equivalent muscle mass.<ref name=":0">
{{cite journal
  |author1=Peplowski, M. M. |author2=Marsh, R. L.
  | date = 1997
  | title = Work and power output in the hindlimb muscles of cuban tree frogs Osteopilus septentrionalis during jumping|journal=J. Exp. Biol. |volume=200
 |issue=22|pages=2861–70 |doi=10.1242/jeb.200.22.2861
 |pmid=9344973
 |doi-access=free|bibcode=1997JExpB.200.2861P
 }}
</ref>