Starostin, EL;
Grant, RA;
Dougill, G;
van der Heijden, GHM;
Goss, VGA;
(2020)
The Euler spiral of rat whiskers.
Science Advances
, 6
(3)
, Article eaax5145. 10.1126/sciadv.aax5145.
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Abstract
This paper reports on an analytical study of the intrinsic shapes of 523 whiskers from 15 rats. We show that the variety of whiskers on a rat’s cheek, each of which has different lengths and shapes, can be described by a simple mathematical equation such that each whisker is represented as an interval on the Euler spiral. When all the representative curves of mystacial vibrissae for a single rat are assembled together, they span an interval extending from one coiled domain of the Euler spiral to the other. We additionally find that each whisker makes nearly the same angle of 47∘ with the normal to the spherical virtual surface formed by the tips of whiskers, which constitutes the rat’s tactile sensory shroud or “search space.” The implications of the linear curvature model for gaining insight into relationships between growth, form, and function are discussed.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Euler spiral of rat whiskers |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1126/sciadv.aax5145 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax5145 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2020 The Authors. This is an open-access article distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY 4.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Civil, Environ and Geomatic Eng |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10089845 |
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