Summary of launch parameters of the identified shooting mechanisms in Animals.

Abbreviations: BL = body length, ML = mandible length, SL = skull length, SD = strike distance, RL = resting length, BM = body mass, PV = (time to) peak velocity, PA = (time to) peak acceleration. For the projectile mass, launch velocity, launch acceleration, launch distance, and power output, the measurement technique is indicated as: Standard = measured using a HSV camera. Bold = calculated by referred authors using measured launch parameters. Italics = manual measurement of the parameter (e.g. from photograph stills, without the use of a high-speed video camera). Standard* = estimated by us from data/figure in indicated reference(s); for the power output per unit mass the launch acceleration [m/s2] is multiplied with the launch velocity [m/s] and for the work per unit mass the power output [W/kg] is integrated over the launch duration [s]. On some occasions the time to peak acceleration or time to peak velocity is used to calculate the work per unit mass delivered by the shooting mechanism, this is indicated with PA and PV, respectively. Bold* = calculated by us using the mean parameter ± 3 standard deviations. The launch parameters are indicated as mean (± standard deviation), peak (indicated with “peak” behind the value), or a range (minimum value–maximum value). Per launch parameter, the peak value identified in this review is indicated by a double-lined box.