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The name “Salto” actually comes from the word “saltatorial,” which is used by biologists to describe animals that have adapted for leaping.

Kangaroos, grasshoppers, and rabbits are some of the more common saltatorial creatures you may have heard of, but Salto falls into that category too.

To design Salto, short for "saltatorial locomotion on terrain obstacles," the University of California, Berkeley, researchers sought inspiration from one of the animal kingdom's best leapers.

The robot the team designed is named Salto—a play on saltatorial locomotion, a fancy name for two-legged jumping movement, and the famous sled dog Balto, because the researchers hope agile bots like this can assist in search-and-rescue missions someday.

Digital reduction and elongate, often fused, distal limb segments are in keeping with often saltatorial habits: sengis are speedy runners, but also adept at leaping when avoiding obstacles and predators.