Robots That Mimic Ancient Creatures Could Recreate Key Moments in Evolution

Combining paleontology, biology, and robotics can help scientists model animals from the past, present, and feature.

By Paul Smaglik
Oct 23, 2024 9:00 PMOct 23, 2024 8:54 PM
Life Studies
The study of life (paleontology and biology) and the study of artificial life (bioinspired robotics and paleo-inspired robotics) provide complementary knowledge about animal evolution. (Credit: University of Cambridge)

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To recapture a key moment in evolution, when aquatic animals walked out of the ocean, a group of scientists is building robots that mimic the motions of ancient organisms, according to a report in Science Robotics.

The team of scientists from Cambridge University — includes roboticists, paleontologists, and biologists — are performing a feat of intellectual time travel to construct the contraptions. They are looking back at fossils of animals from about 390 million years ago and are examining how similarly shaped current animals move. By doing so, they are pushing the future of robotics to create a mobile, mechanical combination of past and present.

Robotics and Paleontology

Combining paleontology with both computer modeling and robotics can allow scientists to recreate how ancient species lived.

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