Date: May 4, 2016
Source: Lund University
Long-eared bats are assisted in
flight by their ears and body, according to a study by researchers at Lund
University in Sweden. The recent findings improve researchers' understanding of
the bats' flying technique and could be significant for the future development
of drones, among other things.
Contrary to what researchers
previously assumed, Christoffer Johansson Westheim and his colleagues at Lund
University show that long-eared bats are helped in flight by their large ears.
"We show how the air behind
the body of a long-eared bat accelerates downwards, which means that the body
and ears provide lift. This distinguishes the long-eared bats from other
species that have been studied and indicates that the large ears do not merely
create strong resistance, but also assist the animal in staying aloft,"
says Christoffer Johansson Westheim.
The findings entail a greater
understanding of the flight technique of bats. They also highlight the
evolutionary conflict between flying as efficiently as possible and
eco-locating, i.e. discovering objects by sending out soundwaves and perceiving
the resulting echoes.
Another discovery made during the
experiments and never previously described in research is how the bats generate
forward motion when flying slowly. The forward motion is generated when the
wings are held high and away from the body at the end of each beat.
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