Let's first take a look at a slow-moving picture of a woodpecker pecking wood:

look at this duang duang, the impact is really not small ~ this can not help but remind people of the following picture:

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but woodpeckers do not have a concussion. How do they protect the brain?

specialized scientists have studied this problem, and the 2006 Ig Nobel Prize in Ornithology was awarded to Ivan R Schwab who studied the subject. His analysis was on the red-crowned woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus). The bird can peck wood 20 times per second: the speed at the moment of impact is about 25km /h, and the acceleration can be 1200g. ).

as for the reason why the woodpecker's brain will not be damaged, there are the following aspects:

1: the special anatomical structure provides protection: the skull is thick, the cartilage provides buffer, the cerebrospinal fluid is low, so there is no fluid inertia trouble, the choroid is very strong, and so on. And the structure of the bone can ensure that the force is skillfully transferred around the brain to the lower part of the head

2: the movement is precisely regulated. Woodpeckers do not casually use brute force to peck wood, their movements are actually very precise. For example, from the dynamic picture above, it can be seen that when they peck wood, the direction of force is quite vertical, which can avoid lateral force and reduce the risk of injury. The beak of a woodpecker has powerful muscles that contract immediately before the impact, passing the impact force to the lower and back of the skull, skipping the brain. In addition, they also close the nictitating membrane (which can be simply understood as the "third eyelid" outside the upper and lower eyelids) to protect the eyes.

moreover, it is said that they often change positions to prevent the skulls from being stressed in the same place.

3: small head. Well, size dose matter... A small size means a relatively large surface area, which is more conducive to dispersing the impact.

4: they have a very strange "seat belt". This weird seat belt is their tongue. If it's hard to think about it, take a look at the following picture:

Yes, the woodpecker's tongue walked around his brain. When the muscles of this structure contract, it is likely to protect the brains of woodpeckers.

all in all, woodpeckers are really amazing. _ (: woodpecker "∠) _