Molecular biologist from Texas, here to share my meanderings on nature, science, history, politics, and zombies. Long threads a specialty.
c0nc0rdance
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So, far from being awkward flappers, these furry sky friends are actually proficient and fast flyers.
Bats are also, and I think this is key to bring up in any technical discussion about their abilities: objectively cute.
Powered flight evolved three times in vertebrate evolutionary history: the pterosaurs, birds, and bats.
What sets bats apart from flying birds & insects is their highly flexible, anatomically-complex wings, making them far more agile flyers while also being less "aerodynamic".
(📷: Lund Univ)
You're watching a leptocephalus ("slim-head"), the larval stage of an eel. Wait for the unrolling!
You can see why early naturalists thought they were their own species, but this little guy will grow up into an adult eel, if he manages to stay concealed.
(📷: Robert Stansfield, Blackwater Cozumel)
Most of their time is spent swimming, but if they detect threats, they'll coil like this to decrease their exposure to predators.
At this stage, they lack red blood cells, allowing them to be nearly transparent. They feed on falling detritus: 'marine snow'.
(📷: Chris Gug, Gug Underwater)
Bats are capable of hovering to eat nectar like a hummingbird, but with significantly less energy output. Note the way the body of the bat 'bends' during hovering, generating lift, but not forward motion.
Also notice the rebound of the membranous wings as they change flap direction.
(📷:Lund Univ)
From a bioengineering perspective, both bats & birds appear to have been optimized for their body structure & lifestyle, with birds focused on low-energy, long-distance travel while bats are more efficient aerial acrobats and hunters over short distance.
You can read more here about leptocephalus/ baby eels, including how they use an internal goo instead of blood, but still somehow manage to have fangs and a shocked expression that is *very relatable*.
The crown for "fastest flying animal on Earth" depends on how you define the test.
A peregrine falcon while diving can reach 240 mph (386 km/h).
But for HORIZONTAL FLIGHT, the Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) is 50% faster (100 mph) than the peregrine (max 60-70 mph).
Video
Their wings contain mostly the same bones/joints as our hands, but unlike birds who have fused bones supporting their wings, bats maintain fine control of the shape of their wings with muscle & bone.
The result is more active control of airflow.
Video
Video
The marine eels and other members of the Superorder Elopomorpha have a leptocephalus larval stage, which are flat and transparent. This group is quite diverse, containing 801 species in 24 orders, 24 ...
Their motions might seem erratic and graceless, but bats are more efficient fliers than birds, thanks to an airlift mechanism that is unique among aerial creatures, new wind-tunnel tests show.
