Now Thomas Roberts of Oregon State University in Corvallis and Richard Marsh of Northeastern University in Boston propose that frogs maximise their muscle power by storing energy in some elastic structure just before they become airborne. The researchers filmed bullfrogs jumping and used a computer model to calculate the energies required to produce such leaps. They found that the numbers only add up if the frogs’ contracting leg muscles also stretch a tendon-like component. When released, like the elastic in a slingshot, the energy stored in the tendon helps fire the animal into the air
