Talk:Cat righting reflex

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I think I read somewhere that if a cat has fallen far enough it doesn't try to land on its feet, but instead lands more or less spread-eagle, to distribute the force of impact over a larger area. I don't have a reference, and I may be remembering this wrong. Can anyone verify or provide a reference? - dcljr (talk) 22:43, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

Ah... here it is in the article: "Furthermore, once righted they may also spread out their body to increase drag and slow the fall to some extent." But it doesn't mention landing this way. - dcljr (talk) 22:45, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Scientific American article

Circa 1960, there was an article in Scientific American which investigated and explained how cats always fall on their feet without breaking the law of conservation of angular momentum. Now nearly half a century later, I have not yet been able to locate an exact reference to cite. DFH 20:57, 5 January 2007 (UTC)