Cat Righting Revealed: Flexible Spine Lets Cats Land Upright
A study from Yamaguchi University analyzed the spines of five cats and used high-speed video to show that the thoracic spine is much more flexible than the lumbar spine, enabling a sequential midair righting maneuver. The thoracic region can rotate about 50 degrees with little effort, allowing an initial head-and-front-leg rotation before the rest of the back follows, while the stiffer lumbar spine acts as an anchor. These findings explain why cats often land on their feet and could inform veterinary approaches to spinal injuries and inspire more agile robots.