Publication Date:
2022-05-25
Description:
© 2007 Author et al. This is an EXiS Open Choice article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons license version 2.5. The definitive version was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 274 (2007): 471-477, doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.0005.
Description:
It is obvious, at least qualitatively, that small animals move their locomotory apparatus faster than large animals: small insects move their wings invisibly fast, while large birds flap their wings slowly. However, quantitative observations have been difficult to obtain from free-ranging swimming animals. We surveyed the swimming behaviour of animals ranging from 0.5kg seabirds to 30000kg sperm whales using animal-borne accelerometers. Dominant stroke cycle frequencies of swimming specialist seabirds and marine mammals were proportional to mass−0.29 (R2=0.99, n=17 groups), while propulsive swimming speeds of 1–2ms−1 were independent of body size. This scaling relationship, obtained from breath-hold divers expected to swim optimally to conserve oxygen, does not agree with recent theoretical predictions for optimal swimming. Seabirds that use their wings for both swimming and flying stroked at a lower frequency than other swimming specialists of the same size, suggesting a morphological trade-off with wing size and stroke frequency representing a compromise. In contrast, foot-propelled diving birds such as shags had similar stroke frequencies as other swimming specialists. These results suggest that muscle characteristics may constrain swimming during cruising travel, with convergence among diving specialists in the proportions and contraction rates of propulsive muscles.
Description:
This work was funded by grants from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (A15255003, B1164062, C15570012, C12660157, C17580175), Ocean Research Institute, Iwate Prefecture, COE program (Neo-Science of Natural History led by H. Okada), Program for Promotion of Basic Research Activities for Innovative Biosciences and National Science Foundation (02229638). Y.W. and Y.M. are JSPS Research Fellows. P.J.O.M. was supported by a Royal Society fellowship and a grant for visiting professor of International Coastal Research Centre, Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo.
Keywords:
Accelerometer
;
Power spectral density
;
Dive
;
Free-ranging
;
Scaling
;
Optimal
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Article
Format:
application/pdf
Format:
video/quicktime
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