简介:To date, wake measurements using particle image velocimetry (PIV) of bats in flight have
studied only three bat species, all fruit and nectar feeders. In this study, we present the
first wake structure analysis for an 简介:To date, wake measurements using particle image velocimetry (PIV) of bats in flight have
studied only three bat species, all fruit and nectar feeders. In this study, we present the
first wake structure analysis for an insectivorous bat. Tadarida brasiliensis, the Brazilian
free-tailed bat, is an aerial hunter that annually migrates long distances and also differs strikingly
from the previously investigated species morphologically. We compare the
aerodynamics of T. brasiliensis with those of other, frugivorous bats and with common
swifts, Apus apus, a bird with wing morphology, kinematics and flight ecology similar to
that of these bats. The comparison reveals that, for the range of speeds evaluated, the cyclical
pattern of aerodynamic forces associated with a wingbeat shows more similarities between T.
brasiliensis and A. apus than between T. brasiliensis and other frugivorous bats.详细>