OroBOT Robot Recreates Walk of 290-Million-Year Old “Stem Amniote” Creature and 15 More Interesting Images

Photo credit: Geek.com
Ever wonder how the earliest land animals moved? If so, you’ll be glad to know that scientists, led by evolutionary biologist John Nyakatura at Humboldt University in Berlin, have used a 290-million-year old fossil skeleton to create a moving robot model of prehistoric life. This four-legged plant-eater lived before the dinosaurs and believed to be called a “stem amniote”, or an early land-dwelling animal that later evolved into modern mammals. It fascinates scientists “because of its position on the tree of life,” said Nyakatura. The team partnered with robotics expert Kamilo Melo at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne to develop a model of how the creature moved before building OroBOT. This robot is made of motors connected by 3D-printed plastic and steel parts and “helps us to test real-world dynamics, to account for gravity and friction,” said Melo. Read more for a compilation of interesting images gathered from around the web.

15. Jurassic

14. Work of Art

13. Cyclonic

12. Exquisite Collection

11. Icy

10. Classic Batmobile

9. Aurora

8. Legendary

7. Best Friends

6. Muscle

5. Award Winning

4. These May Baffle You

3. “Deep Blue” – The Largest Great White

2. Microscopic

1. In Alternate Universes