Movie 1.
Side-by-side videos of squirrel undershooting and overshooting with corresponding branch reaction force and torque. Force and torque are plotted and synced with corresponding videos for an undershooting case and an overshooting case. When undershooting, the squirrel applies high pull-up torque throughout the landing. When overshooting on the other hand, the squirrel applies low and even negative braking torque while simultaneously applying higher leg braking force.
Free-ranging squirrels perform stable, above-branch landings by balancing using leg force and nonprehensile foot torque
Journal of Experimental Biology 2025. 228:None-None; doi: 10.1242/jeb.249934