TIL bivalve muscles are amazingly strong, and for good reason

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Reading through a paper on optimal foraging of an octopus species preying on bivalves, where I see that bivalves can maintain closing tension for several hours with no fatigue, and withstand up to 2kg/cm³ of pulling force. That's due to the adductor muscles being composed of "fast and slow" fibers (Hoyle 1964). Slow muscle fibers use a molecular mechanism called "Sperrung," or "catch mechanism," which can maintain tension with very little energy (Johnson and Szent-Györgi 1959).

Not going in the TIL section, because biology will care about this.

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SigmaStigma

marine ecology

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Posted: 12 years ago
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