🔬 Sciencepublished 2w ago
How woodpeckers strike trees without brain trauma
A woodpecker slams its beak into tree trunks at velocities exceeding six meters per second, experiencing deceleration forces topping one thousand times Earth's gravity. To survive thousands of daily impacts without brain damage, the bird relies on an extraordinary anatomical cushion: its hyoid bone. Attached to the tongue, this flexible bone splits, loops completely over the skull, and anchors above the beak, functioning like an internal seatbelt that diverts concussive forces safely around the brain.
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