Gardiner, JD, Altringham, JD, Papadatou, E and Nudds, RL 2014, 'Excepting myotis capaccinii, the wings' contribution to take-off performance does not correlate with foraging ecology in six species of insectivorous bat' , Biology Open, 3 (11) , pp. 1057-1062.
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Abstract
Take-off in bats is separated into two distinct phases: an initial jump and a subsequent wing powered acceleration. Here, using footage from a high-speed camera, the first comparative study of the performance during the wing induced phase of take-off in six insectivorous bat species is described. Despite distinct differences in foraging strategy, the mass specific power generated by the bats during wing induced take-off did not differ between species, with the exception of Myotis capaccinii. This suggests that differences in take-off performance may only be evident in bats that exhibit particularly unusual foraging strategies, such as the trawling behaviour of M. capaccinii – with differences in the remaining species only manifesting in subtler aspects of flight performance such as agility or manoeuvrability. The poorer take-off performance of M. capaccinii could be related to either a reduction in wing-stroke amplitude to stop the wings hitting the water’s surface during foraging or perhaps an effect of having very large feet. No scaling relationship between body mass and mass-specific take-off power was found, which supports earlier research on birds and insects, suggesting that the mass-specific muscle power available for flight is broadly similar across a large range of body sizes and species.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Schools: | Schools > School of Computing, Science and Engineering |
| Journal or Publication Title: | Biology Open |
| Publisher: | Company of Biologists |
| ISSN: | 2046-6390 |
| Related URLs: | |
| Funders: | Leverhulme, Royal Society |
| Depositing User: | JD Gardiner |
| Date Deposited: | 01 Dec 2015 15:31 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Feb 2022 20:02 |
| URI: | https://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/37252 |
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