Projects2
overview of research projects
Ballistic tongues
Ballistic tongues are specialized, rapidly launched tongues used by slow predators on land to capture distant prey. They are found in three vertebrates: chameleons, lungless salamanders and frogs. They are fast, typically moving at mean speeds of 1–3 m/s and reaching prey within about 200 milliseconds.
My research focuses on:
- biomechanical principles underlying the efficiency and versatility of ballistic tongues
- evolution of ballistic tongues
- ballistic tongue-inspired technology
Ballistic tongues in salamanders and chameleons.
Insect flight
• Flight evolution
Winged insects are the first flight-capable animals evolved on land. To decipher the origin of winged insects and evolution of insect flight, I examined the biomechanics and evolutionary transitions between wingless and winged forms in extant taxa.
Using the stick insects (Phasmatodea) as a model system, I study:
- evolution of flight-related morphology
- the transition in flight capability (powered flapping flight, gliding and parachuting)
- the transition in wing aerodynamics
A male stick insect (Diardia signata) from Borneo.
• Aerial Righting
Aerial righting in wingless arthrpods.
Aerial righting behavior.
(Zeng et al., 2017; Ortega-Jimenez et al., 2023; Jusufi et al., 2011)
• Gliding
Gliding as the evolutionary intermediate between parachuting and flapping flight.
Gliding in stick insects.
(Zeng et al., 2015; Zhao et al., 2023; Zeng et al., 2020)
Shape-shifting appendages
Rapid maneuvers mediated by shape-shifting appendages and body. (Zeng & Crews, 2018)
Omnidirectional strike in flat spiders.
Tadpole Biomechanics
Coming soon
Feeding and locomotion in frog tadpoles.
Feeding and locomotion in frog tadpoles.
Hagfish thread
Hagfish can eject a highly dilute yet strong slime to defend against predators. This slime contains threads that rival spider silk in strength.
keywords
biofiber / predator-prey / intracellular / morphogenesis
Hagfish slime and gland thread cell.
Flagellated carpooling
Most microorganisms either swim or drift. My research reveals a new mode based on collective rolling behavior.
keywords
microorganism / colonial transport / fluid dynamics
Caulobacter colonies forming motile structures.
Funding sources
2025
2023
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Beyond winglets: evolutionary scaling of flight-related morphology in stick insects (Phasmatodea)Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2023 - Air-to-land transitions: from wingless animals and plant seeds to shuttlecocks and bio-inspired robotsBioinspiration and biomimetics, 2023
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2021
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Evolution of a remarkable intracellular polymer and extreme cell allometry in hagfishesCurrent Biology, 2021
2020
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A tale of winglets: evolution of flight morphology in stick insectsFrontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 2020 -
Canopy parkour: movement ecology of post-hatch dispersal in a gliding nymphal stick insect, Extatosoma tiaratumJournal of Experimental Biology, 2020 -
Self-propelling and rolling of a sessile-motile aggregate of the bacterium Caulobacter crescentusCommunications Biology, 2020
2018
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Biomechanics of omnidirectional strikes in flat spidersJournal of Experimental Biology, 2018
2017
2015
- Visual ecology of directed aerial descent in first-instar nymphs of the stick insect Extatosoma tiaratumThe Journal of Experimental Biology, 2015
2011
- Aerial Righting Responses: A Comparative ApproachIn INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY , 2011