Scientists have long wondered how woodpeckers are able to repeatedly bang tree trunks without damaging their brains. One current idea is that their skulls should be like shock-absorbing helmets. A paper published in the journal Current Biology on the 14th refuted this view. Calculations showed that any "shock-absorbing function" would hinder the woodpecker's ability to peck. In fact, the woodpecker's head is more like a hard hammer.
Van Wasenberg, a researcher at the University of Antwerp in Belgium, said: "By analyzing three high-speed videos of woodpeckers, we found that woodpeckers do not actually absorb the impact of collisions with trees."
Wasenberg and colleagues quantified The impact deceleration of three species of woodpeckers during tree pecking was studied, and these data were used to establish the biomechanical model, which led to the conclusion that any shock absorption of the skull would be detrimental to the birds. But if their skulls don’t act as shock absorbers, then why don’t their frantic tree-pecking movements damage their brains?
The study demonstrated that while the impact of each tree peck exceeds the known threshold for concussion in monkeys and humans and , the smaller brains of woodpeckers can withstand it.
The lack of shock absorption doesn't mean a woodpecker's brain is at risk from a seemingly violent impact, research shows. Even the most intense tree-pecking impact of more than 100 times should still be safe for the woodpecker's brain - calculations show that the load on the woodpecker's brain at that time is still lower than that of a human who has suffered a concussion.
Wasenberg pointed out that these findings refute the shock absorption theory that has long been popularized to the public in the media, books, and zoos, that is, their heads are equipped with "shock absorbers".
From an evolutionary perspective, this finding also explains why woodpeckers have small head and neck muscles. The findings also have practical implications, as engineers had previously tried to use the anatomy of a woodpecker's skull as inspiration for developing shock-absorbing materials and helmets, but the new findings suggest that wasn't a good idea.
(Science and Technology Daily reporter Zhang Mengran)
