Trunk muscle activity across various trunk-limb coordination patterns in centipede locomotion

Trunk deep dorsal oblique muscle activity in two centipede species tracks trunk bending similarly during swimming, despite opposite wave directions, but shifts phase and strength during fast walking.

• Why it matters: It remains unclear how trunk muscle control varies across locomotor modes that use different trunk-limb coordination patterns, especially in animals with flexible bodies.
• What they did: The team simultaneously recorded trunk muscle electromyograms and trunk-limb kinematics in Scolopendra mutilans and Scolopocryptops rubiginosus during swimming and fast walking, comparing retrograde versus direct locomotor waves.
• The result: Swimming shows a shared phase relationship between muscle activity and trunk bending in both species, while fast walking links stronger ipsilateral swing-phase activity to the retrograde-wave gait of Scolopendra mutilans and weaker, stance-phase-linked activity to the direct-wave gait of Scolopocryptops rubiginosus.

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