Cargando…

Airplane tracking documents the fastest flight speeds recorded for bats

The performance capabilities of flying animals reflect the interplay of biomechanical and physiological constraints and evolutionary innovation. Of the two extant groups of vertebrates that are capable of powered flight, birds are thought to fly more efficiently and faster than bats. However, fast-f...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: McCracken, Gary F., Safi, Kamran, Kunz, Thomas H., Dechmann, Dina K. N., Swartz, Sharon M., Wikelski, Martin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: The Royal Society 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5180116/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28018618
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160398
_version_ 1782485466059112448
author McCracken, Gary F.
Safi, Kamran
Kunz, Thomas H.
Dechmann, Dina K. N.
Swartz, Sharon M.
Wikelski, Martin
author_facet McCracken, Gary F.
Safi, Kamran
Kunz, Thomas H.
Dechmann, Dina K. N.
Swartz, Sharon M.
Wikelski, Martin
author_sort McCracken, Gary F.
collection PubMed
description The performance capabilities of flying animals reflect the interplay of biomechanical and physiological constraints and evolutionary innovation. Of the two extant groups of vertebrates that are capable of powered flight, birds are thought to fly more efficiently and faster than bats. However, fast-flying bat species that are adapted for flight in open airspace are similar in wing shape and appear to be similar in flight dynamics to fast-flying birds that exploit the same aerial niche. Here, we investigate flight behaviour in seven free-flying Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) and report that the maximum ground speeds achieved exceed speeds previously documented for any bat. Regional wind modelling indicates that bats adjusted flight speeds in response to winds by flying more slowly as wind support increased and flying faster when confronted with crosswinds, as demonstrated for insects, birds and other bats. Increased frequency of pauses in wing beats at faster speeds suggests that flap-gliding assists the bats' rapid flight. Our results suggest that flight performance in bats has been underappreciated and that functional differences in the flight abilities of birds and bats require re-evaluation.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-5180116
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2016
publisher The Royal Society
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-51801162016-12-23 Airplane tracking documents the fastest flight speeds recorded for bats McCracken, Gary F. Safi, Kamran Kunz, Thomas H. Dechmann, Dina K. N. Swartz, Sharon M. Wikelski, Martin R Soc Open Sci Biology (Whole Organism) The performance capabilities of flying animals reflect the interplay of biomechanical and physiological constraints and evolutionary innovation. Of the two extant groups of vertebrates that are capable of powered flight, birds are thought to fly more efficiently and faster than bats. However, fast-flying bat species that are adapted for flight in open airspace are similar in wing shape and appear to be similar in flight dynamics to fast-flying birds that exploit the same aerial niche. Here, we investigate flight behaviour in seven free-flying Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) and report that the maximum ground speeds achieved exceed speeds previously documented for any bat. Regional wind modelling indicates that bats adjusted flight speeds in response to winds by flying more slowly as wind support increased and flying faster when confronted with crosswinds, as demonstrated for insects, birds and other bats. Increased frequency of pauses in wing beats at faster speeds suggests that flap-gliding assists the bats' rapid flight. Our results suggest that flight performance in bats has been underappreciated and that functional differences in the flight abilities of birds and bats require re-evaluation. The Royal Society 2016-11-09 /pmc/articles/PMC5180116/ /pubmed/28018618 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160398 Text en © 2016 The Authors. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Biology (Whole Organism)
McCracken, Gary F.
Safi, Kamran
Kunz, Thomas H.
Dechmann, Dina K. N.
Swartz, Sharon M.
Wikelski, Martin
Airplane tracking documents the fastest flight speeds recorded for bats
title Airplane tracking documents the fastest flight speeds recorded for bats
title_full Airplane tracking documents the fastest flight speeds recorded for bats
title_fullStr Airplane tracking documents the fastest flight speeds recorded for bats
title_full_unstemmed Airplane tracking documents the fastest flight speeds recorded for bats
title_short Airplane tracking documents the fastest flight speeds recorded for bats
title_sort airplane tracking documents the fastest flight speeds recorded for bats
topic Biology (Whole Organism)
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5180116/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28018618
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160398
work_keys_str_mv AT mccrackengaryf airplanetrackingdocumentsthefastestflightspeedsrecordedforbats
AT safikamran airplanetrackingdocumentsthefastestflightspeedsrecordedforbats
AT kunzthomash airplanetrackingdocumentsthefastestflightspeedsrecordedforbats
AT dechmanndinakn airplanetrackingdocumentsthefastestflightspeedsrecordedforbats
AT swartzsharonm airplanetrackingdocumentsthefastestflightspeedsrecordedforbats
AT wikelskimartin airplanetrackingdocumentsthefastestflightspeedsrecordedforbats