Article (Scientific journals)
The aerodynamic cost of head morphology in bats: maybe not as bad as it seems
Vanderelst, Dieter; Peremans, Herbert; Abdul Razak, Norizham et al.
2015In PLoS ONE, 10 (3), p. 0118545
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
 

Files


Full Text
35 journal.pone.0118545.pdf
Publisher postprint (4.47 MB)
Download

All documents in ORBi are protected by a user license.

Send to



Details



Keywords :
Bats; Ear aerodynamics; Wind tunnel
Abstract :
[en] At first sight, echolocating bats face a difficult trade-off. As flying animals, they would benefit from a streamlined geometric shape to reduce aerodynamic drag and increase flight efficiency. However, as echolocating animals, their pinnae generate the acoustic cues necessary for navigation and foraging. Moreover, species emitting sound through their nostrils often feature elaborate noseleaves that help in focussing the emitted echolocation pulses. Both pinnae and noseleaves reduce the streamlined character of a bat’s morphology. It is generally assumed that by compromising the streamlined charactered of the geometry, the head morphology generates substantial drag, thereby reducing flight efficiency. In contrast, it has also been suggested that the pinnae of bats generate lift forces counteracting the detrimental effect of the increased drag. However, very little data exist on the aerodynamic properties of bat pinnae and noseleaves. In this work, the aerodynamic forces generated by the heads of seven species of bats, including noseleaved bats, are measured by testing detailed 3D models in a wind tunnel. Models of Myotis daubentonii, Macrophyllum macrophyllum, Micronycteris microtis, Eptesicus fuscus, Rhinolophus formosae, Rhinolophus rouxi and Phyllostomus discolor are tested. The results confirm that non-streamlined facial morphologies yield considerable drag forces but also generate substantial lift. The net effect is a slight increase in the lift-to-drag ratio. Therefore, there is no evidence of high aerodynamic costs associated with the morphology of bat heads
Disciplines :
Zoology
Aerospace & aeronautics engineering
Author, co-author :
Vanderelst, Dieter;  Universiteit Antwerpen - UA > Department of Engineering Management > Active Perception Lab
Peremans, Herbert;  Universiteit Antwerpen - UA > Department of Engineering Management > Active Perception Lab
Abdul Razak, Norizham;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department > Fluid Structure Interaction and Experimental Aerodynamics
Verstraelen, Edouard ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'aérospatiale et mécanique > Laboratoire de structures et systèmes spatiaux
Dimitriadis, Grigorios ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'aérospatiale et mécanique > Interactions Fluide-Structure - Aérodynamique expérimentale
Language :
English
Title :
The aerodynamic cost of head morphology in bats: maybe not as bad as it seems
Publication date :
2015
Journal title :
PLoS ONE
eISSN :
1932-6203
Publisher :
Public Library of Science, San Franscisco, United States - California
Volume :
10
Issue :
3
Pages :
e0118545
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Funders :
FWO - Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Vlaanderen [BE]
UE - Union Européenne [BE]
Available on ORBi :
since 28 January 2015

Statistics


Number of views
104 (28 by ULiège)
Number of downloads
135 (10 by ULiège)

Scopus citations®
 
6
Scopus citations®
without self-citations
4
OpenCitations
 
5

Bibliography


Similar publications



Contact ORBi