Body lift, drag and power are relatively higher in large-eared than in small-eared bat species
Autor: | Jonas Håkansson, Anders Hedenström, Lasse Hjort Jakobsen, L. Christoffer Johansson |
---|---|
Jazyk: | angličtina |
Rok vydání: | 2017 |
Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
0301 basic medicine Drag coefficient Acoustics Biomedical Engineering Biophysics Bioengineering Human echolocation 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Biochemistry Biomaterials 03 medical and health sciences Species Specificity Chiroptera otorhinolaryngologic diseases Journal Article Animals Glossophaga soricina Wind tunnel biology Lift (soaring) Life Sciences–Physics interface Ear Aerodynamics biology.organism_classification Biomechanical Phenomena 030104 developmental biology Drag Flight Animal Plecotus auritus Environmental science sense organs Biotechnology |
Zdroj: | Håkansson, J, Jakobsen, L, Hedenström, A & Johansson, L C 2017, ' Body lift, drag and power are relatively higher in large-eared than in small-eared bat species ', Journal of the Royal Society. Interface, vol. 14, no. 135 . https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2017.0455 |
Popis: | Bats navigate the dark using echolocation. Echolocation is enhanced by external ears, but external ears increase the projected frontal area and reduce the streamlining of the animal. External ears are thus expected to compromise flight efficiency, but research suggests that very large ears may mitigate the cost by producing aerodynamic lift. Here we compare quantitative aerodynamic measures of flight efficiency of two bat species, one large-eared (Plecotus auritus) and one small-eared (Glossophaga soricina), flying freely in a wind tunnel. We find that the body drag of both species is higher than previously assumed and that the large-eared species has a higher body drag coefficient, but also produces relatively more ear/body lift than the small-eared species, in line with prior studies on model bats. The measured aerodynamic power ofP. aurituswas higher than predicted from the aerodynamic model, while the small-eared species aligned with predictions. The relatively higher power of the large-eared species results in lower optimal flight speeds and our findings support the notion of a trade-off between the acoustic benefits of large external ears and aerodynamic performance. The result of this trade-off would be the eco-morphological correlation in bat flight, with large-eared bats generally adopting slow-flight feeding strategies. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
Externí odkaz: |