Study Examines How Bats Can Land Upside Down
- 9 years ago
Researchers say they've figured out how bats are able to pull off their unique mid-air flips that allow them to land upside down.
Bats are the only creature known to land upside down by performing a mid-air flip—and scientists now believe they know how.
Publishing in the journal PLOS Biology, researchers from Brown University used high-speed cameras to track bats' movements inside a specially-developed flight enclosure—and found that it’s mostly a matter of mass and inertia.
Compared to other flying animals, bats have extremely heavy wings—a complex combination of muscles, bones, joints, tendons and skin.
In fact, relative to body weight, bats' wings are the heav
Bats are the only creature known to land upside down by performing a mid-air flip—and scientists now believe they know how.
Publishing in the journal PLOS Biology, researchers from Brown University used high-speed cameras to track bats' movements inside a specially-developed flight enclosure—and found that it’s mostly a matter of mass and inertia.
Compared to other flying animals, bats have extremely heavy wings—a complex combination of muscles, bones, joints, tendons and skin.
In fact, relative to body weight, bats' wings are the heav