QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by THOMAS, A. L.R. Articles by HUGHES, P. M. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by THOMAS, A. L.R. Articles by HUGHES, P. M.

Journal of Experimental Biology 149,407-416 (1990)
Published by Company of Biologists 1990

INTERMITTENT GLIDING FLIGHT IN THE PIPISTRELLE BAT (PIPISTRELLUS PIPISTRELLUS)(CHIROPTERA: VESPERTILIONIDAE)

ADRIAN L.R. THOMAS ¹, GARETH JONES ¹, JEREMY M. V. RAYNER ¹, and PATRICIA M. HUGHES ¹

¹ Department of Zoology, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UG, UK

The pipistrelle bat Pipistrellus pipistrellus intersperses wingbeats in flapping flights with brief (0.1–0.3 s) glides. This undulating intermittent flight mode probably saves energy in flight. In large flight cages, captive pipistrelles glided for approximately 13.4% of flight time, but glides were steep, and the bat accelerated during the glides. The bats sometimes glided during turns. During the glides the bat may have been unable to emit echolocation pulses and, if so, this would explain occasional wide interpulse intervals in wild pipistrelles. The steepness of the glides may be a means of improving undulating flight performance, and may also be unavoidable owing to the very small size and relatively small wings of pipistrelles.

Key words: bats, intermittent flight, gliding, echolocation, pipistrelle

Accepted on October 27, 1989

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. D. Bullen and N. L. McKenzie Scaling bat wingbeat frequency and amplitude J. Exp. Biol., September 1, 2002; 205(17): 2615 - 2626. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. M. V. Rayner, P. W. Viscardi, S. Ward, and J. R. Speakman Aerodynamics and Energetics of Intermittent Flight in Birds Integr. Comp. Biol., April 1, 2001; 41(2): 188 - 204. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J Wong and D Waters The synchronisation of signal emission with wingbeat during the approach phase in soprano pipistrelles (Pipistrellus pygmaeus) J. Exp. Biol., January 2, 2001; 204(3): 575 - 583. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. Maina What it takes to fly: the structural and functional respiratory refinements in birds and bats J. Exp. Biol., January 10, 2000; 203(20): 3045 - 3064. [Abstract]

				U. Lindhe-Norberg, A. Brooke, and W. Trewhella Soaring and non-soaring bats of the family pteropodidae (flying foxes, Pteropus spp.): wing morphology and flight performance J. Exp. Biol., January 2, 2000; 203(3): 651 - 664. [Abstract] [PDF]