Correspondence Between Plight Morphology and Foraging Ecology in Some Palaeotropical Bats

1995 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 241 ◽  
Author(s):  
NL Mckenzie ◽  
AC Gunnell ◽  
M Yani ◽  
MR Williams
Keyword(s):  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Phylogenetic Relationships ◽  
Foraging Ecology ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Wing Loading ◽  
Ecological Structure ◽  
Flight Morphology ◽  
Family Level

Analysis revealed a tight, functionally appropriate relationship between the flight morphology and foraging ecology of bats on Lombok I., Indonesia, that crossed family-level phylogenetic relationships in some instances. While aspect ratio, wing loading and tip shape were all important in separating microbat foraging strategies on Lombok I., the megabats were arrayed on differences in wing loading and tip shape related to solitary versus colonial foraging strategies. Flight morphology is a useful tool for studying ecological structure in the organisation of megabat as well as microbat communities.

Assessment of sources of variance and patterns of overlap in microchiropteran wing morphology in southeast Queensland, Australia

2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 450-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin P Rhodes
Keyword(s):  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Wing Morphology ◽  
Wing Loading ◽  
Flight Behaviour ◽  
Phylogenetic Constraint ◽  
Aspect Ratios ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Family Level ◽  
Measurement Variance ◽  
Southeast Queensland

In ecomorphological relationships, ecological similarities or overlap between species may occur with morphological similarity or overlap. Determination of morphological distinctness is thus important when relating morphology with ecology. This is the first of a series of papers investigating the ecomorphology of Microchiroptera in southeast Queensland, Australia, and in it I describe means and ranges of measurements and distinctness of wing morphology. In 21 species from this region, species means for aspect ratio (relative wing width) ranged from 4.98 to 8.25, while wing loading (mass by wing area) ranged from 4.32 to 15.9 N/m2. For these variables, each species' range (minimum–maximum) overlaps that of at least one other species, with greater overlap at lower values. Morphological overlap was frequent, owing to a consistently wide range of wing dimensions within species, with greater overlap at low aspect ratios and wing loadings where species were more closely packed. For all variables, the variance arising from the method of measurement (wing extend and trace) was less than intraspecific variance, but in many cases was similar to interspecific overlap. A proportion of the range and overlap in wing-morphology variables is attributable to measurement variance. The variance in aspect ratio was lower than in wing loading at species, genus, family, and region levels. Phylogenetic constraint on aspect ratio appears to be greater than on wing loading, particularly at the family level. At family and genus levels, aspect ratio varied less than wing loading. No overlap in aspect ratio occurred at family level. I group species into morphologically distinct units and provide predictions of the flight behaviour of these.

Sexual selection and morphological design: the tale of two territorial butterflies

2010 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darrell J. Kemp
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Mate Location ◽  
Wing Loading ◽  
Wing Area ◽  
Sexual Competition ◽  
Flying Insects ◽  
High Acceleration ◽  
Flight Morphology ◽  
Selection For

Sexual competition promotes sexual selection and may influence the evolution of morphology, physiology and life history. In many flying insects, selection for efficient mate location is thought to have influenced male flight morphology in characteristic ways, with exponents of sit-and-wait tactics selected to possess high acceleration designs (i.e. high flight musculature and relatively small, elongate wings). However, many of these species also engage in elaborate and extended aerial disputes over territory ownership, and the need for contest ability may also select for a particular design. I attempted to tease apart the effects of these two influences by contrasting the flight morphology of two closely related Hypolimnas butterflies: H. bolina and H. alimena. While the males of both species rely predominantly on sit-and-wait tactics, only male H. bolina compete for territories via extended aerial manoeuvres. Males of this species possessed lower body mass per unit wing area (i.e. lower wing loading) and more elongate wings (i.e. higher aspect ratio), but did not differ from male H. alimena in relative flight musculature (thoracic mass). Males of both species varied from conspecific females in having higher relative flight musculature, lower wing loading and lower aspect ratio, which only partly supports expectations based solely upon sexual selection. These data suggest that selection for aerial contest ability may act weakly upon wing parameters, favouring a compromise between power/maneuverability and energetically efficient flight.

Condition-dependent foraging strategies in a coastal seabird: evidence for the rich get richer hypothesis

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 356-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brock Geary ◽  
Scott T Walter ◽  
Paul L Leberg ◽  
Jordan Karubian
Keyword(s):  
Individual Variation ◽  
Multiple Scales ◽  
Foraging Ecology ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Significant Relationships ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
Brown Pelicans ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Foraging Movements

Abstract The degree to which foraging individuals are able to appropriately modify their behaviors in response to dynamic environmental conditions and associated resource availability can have important fitness consequences. Despite an increasingly refined understanding of differences in foraging behavior between individuals, we still lack detailed characterizations of within-individual variation over space and time, and what factors may drive this variability. From 2014 to 2017, we used GPS transmitters and accelerometers to document foraging movements by breeding adult Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) in the northern Gulf of Mexico, where the prey landscape is patchy and dynamic at various scales. Assessments of traditional foraging metrics such as trip distance, linearity, or duration did not yield significant relationships between individuals. However, we did observe lower site fidelity and less variation in energy expenditure in birds of higher body condition, despite a population-level trend of increased fidelity as the breeding season progressed. These findings suggest that high-quality individuals are both more variable and more efficient in their foraging behaviors during a period of high energetic demand, consistent with a “rich get richer” scenario in which individuals in better condition are able to invest in more costly behaviors that provide higher returns. This work highlights the importance of considering behavioral variation at multiple scales, with particular reference to within-individual variation, to improve our understanding of foraging ecology in wild populations.

scholarly journals Subcolony Variation in Breeding Success in the Tufted Puffin (Fratercula Cirrhata): Association With Foraging Ecology and Implications

The Auk ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 124 (4) ◽  
pp. 1149-1157
Author(s):  
J. Mark Hipfner ◽  
Mathieu R. Charette ◽  
Gwylim S. Blackburn
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Breeding Success ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Foraging Ecology ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Egg Yolk ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Tufted Puffin

Abstract Large-scale oceanographic processes are the main drivers of seabird breeding success, but small-scale processes, though not as well understood, can also be important. We compared the success of Tufted Puffins (Fratercula cirrhata) breeding at two subcolonies only 1.5 km apart on Triangle Island, British Columbia, Canada, 2002–2005. In addition, we used stable-isotope analysis to test the hypothesis that parental foraging strategies differed between the two subcolonies, potentially underlying the variation in breeding success. Success was concordant across years at the two sites but, overall, Tufted Puffins bred more successfully at Strata Rock than at Puffin Rock. They raised chicks in all four years at Strata Rock, but in only three years at Puffin Rock; in two of those three years, Strata Rock chicks were, on average, 60 g and 100 g heavier than Puffin Rock chicks just before fledging. Discriminant analysis of carbon and nitrogen stable-isotope ratios in egg yolk and chick blood in 2004 and 2005 indicated that parental foraging differed between the two subcolonies, with both spatial (δ13C) and trophic-level (δ15N) differences involved. Thus, our study demonstrates the existence of foraging asymmetries in a pelagic seabird at a small spatial scale (between subcolonies), complementing patterns found at larger scales (between colonies). Moreover, the foraging asymmetries were associated with inequalities in fitness measures. We conclude that small-scale processes—in this case, systematic differences in the foraging ecology of local groups—can interact with large-scale oceanographic processes to determine seabird breeding success. Variation sous-coloniale du succès de reproduction de Fratercula cirrhata: Association avec l'écologie de la quête alimentaire et implications

scholarly journals Aerodynamic reconstruction of the primitive fossil bat Onychonycteris finneyi (Mammalia: Chiroptera)

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 20180857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucila I. Amador ◽  
Nancy B. Simmons ◽  
Norberto P. Giannini
Keyword(s):  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Rapid Evolution ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Green River Formation ◽  
Developmental Changes ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
Wing Loading ◽  
Green River ◽  
Aerodynamic Efficiency ◽  
Extinct Species

Bats are the only mammals capable of powered flight. One of the oldest bats known from a complete skeleton is Onychonycteris finneyi from the Early Eocene (Green River Formation, Wyoming, 52.5 Ma). Estimated to weigh approximately 40 g, Onychonycteris exhibits the most primitive combination of characters thus far known for bats. Here, we reconstructed the aerofoil of the two known specimens, calculated basic aerodynamic variables and compared them with those of extant bats and gliding mammals. Onychonycteris appears in the edges of the morphospace for bats, underscoring the primitive conformation of its flight apparatus. Low aerodynamic efficiency is inferred for this extinct species as compared to any extant bat. When we estimated aerofoil variables in a model of Onychonycteris excluding the handwing, it closely approached the morphospace of extant gliding mammals. Addition of a handwing to the model lacking this structure results in a 2.3-fold increase in aspect ratio and a 28% decrease in wing loading, thus greatly enhancing aerodynamics. In the context of these models, the rapid evolution of the chiropteran handwing via genetically mediated developmental changes appears to have been a key transformation in the hypothesized transition from gliding to flapping in early bats.

scholarly journals Cretaceous origin and repeated tertiary diversification of the redefined butterflies

2011 ◽  
Vol 279 (1731) ◽  
pp. 1093-1099 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Heikkilä ◽  
Lauri Kaila ◽  
Marko Mutanen ◽  
Carlos Peña ◽  
Niklas Wahlberg
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Analysis ◽  
Phylogenetic Relationships ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Sister Group ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Molecular Data ◽  
Bayesian Approaches ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Level ◽  
Morphological And Molecular Data

Although the taxonomy of the ca 18 000 species of butterflies and skippers is well known, the family-level relationships are still debated. Here, we present, to our knowledge, the most comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the superfamilies Papilionoidea, Hesperioidea and Hedyloidea to date based on morphological and molecular data. We reconstructed their phylogenetic relationships using parsimony and Bayesian approaches. We estimated times and rates of diversification along lineages in order to reconstruct their evolutionary history. Our results suggest that the butterflies, as traditionally understood, are paraphyletic, with Papilionidae being the sister-group to Hesperioidea, Hedyloidea and all other butterflies. Hence, the families in the current three superfamilies should be placed in a single superfamily Papilionoidea. In addition, we find that Hedylidae is sister to Hesperiidae, and this novel relationship is supported by two morphological characters. The families diverged in the Early Cretaceous but diversified after the Cretaceous–Palaeogene event. The diversification of butterflies is characterized by a slow speciation rate in the lineage leading to Baronia brevicornis , a period of stasis by the skippers after divergence and a burst of diversification in the lineages leading to Nymphalidae, Riodinidae and Lycaenidae.

The turning- and linear-maneuvering performance of birds: the cost of efficiency for coursing insectivores

1998 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 1063-1079 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas R Warrick
Keyword(s):  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Flight Morphology ◽  
Aerial Insectivores ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Performance Demands

To examine the performance compromises necessitated by adaptations for high efficiency in flight, such as highaspect ratio wings, the flight morphology and acceleration performance of a guild of coursing aerial insectivores (swifts andswallows) were compared with those of a guild of avian generalists. Though phylogenetic non-independence made inference ofadaptation difficult, biologically significant differences in aspect ratio and acceleration performance probably exist between thetwo groups of birds. A model of aerial insectivory is presented to illustrate the performance demands of this foraging methodand the impacts of the compromises between high efficiency in sustained flight and turning- and linear-maneuveringperformance.

scholarly journals Diversification and the adaptive radiation of the vangas of Madagascar

2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1735) ◽  
pp. 2062-2071 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Reddy ◽  
A. Driskell ◽  
D. L. Rabosky ◽  
S. J. Hackett ◽  
T. S. Schulenberg
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Adaptive Radiation ◽  
Phylogenetic Relationships ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Taxon Sampling ◽  
Speciation Rates ◽  
Dispersal Routes ◽  
Random Patterns

The vangas of Madagascar exhibit extreme diversity in morphology and ecology. Recent studies have shown that several other Malagasy species also are part of this endemic radiation, even as the monophyly of the clade remains in question. Using DNA sequences from 13 genes and representatives of all 15 vanga genera, we find strong support for the monophyly of the Malagasy vangids and their inclusion in a family along with six aberrant genera of shrike-like corvoids distributed in Asia and Africa. Biogeographic reconstructions of these lineages include both Asia and Africa as possible dispersal routes to Madagascar. To study patterns of speciation through time, we introduce a method that can accommodate phylogenetically non-random patterns of incomplete taxon sampling in diversification studies. We demonstrate that speciation rates in vangas decreased dramatically through time following the colonization of Madagascar. Foraging strategies of these birds show remarkable congruence with phylogenetic relationships, indicating that adaptations to feeding specializations played a role in the diversification of these birds. Vangas fit the model of an ‘adaptive radiation’ in that they show an explosive burst of speciation soon after colonization, increased diversification into novel niches and extraordinary ecomorphological diversity.

scholarly journals Foraging Behaviour of Three Sympatric Babblers (Family: Timaliidae)

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. a26-34
Author(s):  
JONATHON JULIANA ◽  
DENCY FLENNY GAWIN
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Foraging Behaviour ◽  
Foraging Ecology ◽  
Secondary Forest ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Dipterocarp Forest ◽  
Fruit Orchard ◽  
Disturbed Forest ◽  
Mixed Dipterocarp Forest

We investigated the foraging ecology of three species of babblers in Kampung Gumbang, Kampung Padang Pan and Dered Krian National Park, Bau. Vegetation in Kampung Gumbang include tall trees, shrubs and patches of kerangas. Dered Kerian National Park consists of mixed dipterocarp forest and limestone forest, which is surrounded by orchards and few villages. In Kampung Padang Pan, the vegetation is a mixed fruit orchard and secondary forest. Foraging data were obtained to compare foraging behaviour in three species. From 133 observations, suspended dead leaves was the most frequently used substrate by the three species. Stachyris maculate showed the most general foraging behavior, and it adopted probing strategy. Cyanoderma erythropterum and Mixnornis gularis obtained food items by gleaning. These three babblers utilize different foraging strategies and substrates, irrespective of their resemblances in other characteristics.  C. erythropterum and S. maculate forage mainly among dead and curled, twisted leaves in understory vegetation at significantly different heights. M. gularis forages on dead and living leaves and this species can be found abundantly in disturbed forest and plantation or farm habitats. All the three areas were observed never lacked falling leaves and structural complexity required as foraging substrates by those three babbler species. All three babblers occupy different foraging niches, and therefore interspecific competitions among themselves are minimized.

scholarly journals Design and Analysis of a Rocket-Deployed Flying-Wing UAV

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yukei Oyama
Keyword(s):  
Additive Manufacturing ◽  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ◽  
Wing Loading ◽  
Wing Area ◽  
Power Requirement ◽  
Stability And Control ◽  
Power Loading ◽  
Aerial Vehicle ◽  
And Control

This undergraduate paper demonstrates the design, analysis, and manufacturing of a rocket deployable electric powered experimental unmanned aerial vehicle. The design process begins with defining the volume and dimensions of the allocated payload space for the UAV in the rocket. These dimensions are given by the aerostructures sub team in the Ryerson Rocketry Club. The dimensions given were used to determine the best configuration for the mission. The wing loading, power loading and endurance of the UAV are obtained from the constrained payload volume in the rocket and the avionics system of the of the UAV. The wing area, UAV weight and power requirements were calculated based on the previously determined values. The power requirement determines the motor size and propeller configuration. Aerodynamics, stability, and control were based the selected airfoil and obtained wing area. After completing the design, foam, additive manufacturing, and composite layups were used to create prototypes of the UAV. These prototypes were used to iterate the aircraft and address any immediate changes. The chosen design is a foldable flying wing, once deployed from the rocket has a wingspan of 70 inches, an aspect ratio of 13.35 and a surface area of 367 in2 . A prototype was created to prove the design feasibility of the UAV. The prototype proved to function as planned, capable of gliding, powered flight, and takeoff.

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