spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Schutt, W. A.
Right arrow Articles by Bertram, J. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Schutt, W. A.
Right arrow Articles by Bertram, J. E.

Journal of Experimental Biology, Vol 200, Issue 23 3003-3012, Copyright © 1997 by Company of Biologists

JOURNAL ARTICLES

The dynamics of flight-initiating jumps in the common vampire bat Desmodus rotundus

WA Schutt, JS Altenbach, YH Chang, DM Cullinane, JW Hermanson, F Muradali and JE Bertram
Department of Anatomy, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. Bill-Schutt@ccmgate.bloomfield.edu

Desmodus rotundus, the common vampire bat (Phyllostomidae: Desmodontinae), exhibits complex and variable terrestrial movements that include flight-initiating vertical jumps. This ability is unique among bats and is related to their unusual feeding behavior. As a consequence of this behavior, the wing is expected to have design features that allow both powered flight and the generation of violent jumps. In this study, high-speed cine images were synchronized with ground reaction force recordings to evaluate the dynamics of jumping behavior in D. rotundus and to explore the functional characteristics of a wing operating under competing mechanical constraints. The pectoral limbs are responsible for generating upward thrust during the jump. The hindlimbs stabilize and orient the body over the pectoral limbs. The thumbs (pollices) stabilize the pectoral limb and contribute to extending the time over which vertical force is exerted. Peak vertical force can reach 9.5 times body weight in approximately 30 ms. Mean impulse is 0.0580+/-0.007 N s (mean +/- s.d., N=12), which accelerates the animal to a mean take-off velocity of 2.38+/-0.24 m s-1. A model of the muscular activity during jumping is described that accounts for the characteristic force output shown by these animals during flight-initiating jumps.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Exp. Biol.Home page
D. K. Riskin, S. Parsons, W. A. Schutt Jr, G. G. Carter, and J. W. Hermanson
Terrestrial locomotion of the New Zealand short-tailed bat Mystacina tuberculata and the common vampire bat Desmodus rotundus
J. Exp. Biol., May 1, 2006; 209(9): 1725 - 1736.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Exp. Biol.Home page
D. K. Riskin, J. E. A. Bertram, and J. W. Hermanson
Testing the hindlimb-strength hypothesis: non-aerial locomotion by Chiroptera is not constrained by the dimensions of the femur or tibia
J. Exp. Biol., April 1, 2005; 208(7): 1309 - 1319.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Exp. Biol.Home page
B. W. Tobalske, D. L. Altshuler, and D. R. Powers
Take-off mechanics in hummingbirds (Trochilidae)
J. Exp. Biol., March 15, 2004; 207(8): 1345 - 1352.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Exp. Biol.Home page
K. Earls
Kinematics and mechanics of ground take-off in the starling Sturnis vulgaris and the quail Coturnix coturnix
J. Exp. Biol., January 2, 2000; 203(4): 725 - 739.
[Abstract] [PDF]


© The Company of Biologists Ltd 1997