Arboreal animals often leap through complex canopies to travel and avoid predators. Their success at making split-second, potentially life-threatening decisions of biomechanical capability depends on their skillful use of acrobatic maneuvers and learning from past efforts. Here, we found that free-ranging fox squirrels (Sciurus niger) leaping across unfamiliar, simulated branches decided where to launch by balancing a trade-off between gap distance and branch-bending compliance. Squirrels quickly learned to modify impulse generation upon repeated leaps from unfamiliar, compliant beams. A repertoire of agile landing maneuvers enabled targeted leaping without falling. Unanticipated adaptive landing and leaping “parkour” behavior revealed an innovative solution for particularly challenging leaps. Squirrels deciding and learning how to launch and land demonstrates the synergistic roles of biomechanics and cognition in robust gap-crossing strategies.

树栖动物经常跳过复杂的树冠来旅行并躲避掠食者。他们能否成功地在瞬间做出可能危及生命的生物力学决定，取决于他们对杂技动作的熟练运用以及从过去的努力中学习。在这里，我们发现自由放养的狐松鼠（Sciurus niger）跳过不熟悉的模拟树枝，通过平衡间隙距离和树枝弯曲顺从性之间的权衡来决定从哪里出发。松鼠很快就学会了在从不熟悉的顺应光束中反复跳跃时改变脉冲的产生。灵活的着陆动作可以实现有针对性的跳跃而不会摔倒。意想不到的自适应着陆和跳跃“跑酷”行为揭示了一种针对特别具有挑战性的跳跃的创新解决方案。松鼠决定并学习如何发射和着陆，这证明了生物力学和认知在强大的跨越差距策略中的协同作用。