Biologists at the Lund University School of Sciences in Sweden are studying how bats can move and hunt for prey during the first time in history.
Researcher Per Henningson presented the results of the study on the bugle bats at a conference organized by the Experimental Biology Society.
"The bat's way of flying requires high precision in terms of speed, and it's a tremendous feat because we have to consider wind, turbulence, leaves and other surrounding obstacles," Henningson said.
To further investigate the techniques of bat aerodynamics and various techniques, Henningson and his colleagues are observing bat hunting in a wind tunnel of the department.
The researchers used flow visualization techniques to analyze aerodynamics and high-speed shooting to obtain information on how the wings of a bat move in the air, and are studying how wing maneuvering starts, maneuvers and shutdown methods .
"Bats that eat insects should be very good at flying, especially because they eat flying food," Henningson said. Whether an insect is flying, or sitting on a tree branch or a leaf, bats can catch insects in any situation. "
Henningson and his research team are studying not only bats, but also flying ability of insects and birds. Their goal is to collect enough data to enable comparison of the three groups and to use them as a means to increase aerodynamic knowledge of animal flight.
"I think aerodynamics will vary considerably because the wings of the three groups are very different," Henningson said. But we already know many similarities. To date, we have not known how they are different or how they are similar. We will prove aerodynamics. I think there will be some amazing results. "
