Royal Veterinary College, London NW1 0TU, UK.
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA.
J Exp Biol. 2022 Jul 15;225(14). doi: 10.1242/jeb.243974. Epub 2022 Jul 14.
Bat wing skin is exceptionally compliant and cambers significantly during flight. Plagiopatagiales proprii, arrays of small muscles embedded in the armwing membrane, are activated during flight and are hypothesized to modulate membrane tension. We examined the function of these muscles using Jamaican fruit bats, Artibeus jamaicensis. When these muscles were paralyzed using botulinum toxin, the bats preferred flight speed decreased and they were unable to fly at very low speeds. Paralysis of the plagiopatagiales also resulted in increased armwing camber consistent with a hypothesized role of modulating aeroelastic interactions. Other compensatory kinematics included increased downstroke angle and increased wingbeat amplitude. These results are consistent with the bats experiencing increased drag and flight power costs associated with the loss of wing-membrane control. Our results indicate that A. jamaicensis likely always employ their wing membrane muscles during sustained flight to control camber and to enhance flight efficiency over a wide flight envelope.
蝙蝠的翅膀皮肤非常有弹性，在飞行中会显著弯曲。翼膜中的小型肌肉群（plagiopatagiales proprii）在飞行中被激活，据推测可以调节膜张力。我们使用牙买加果蝠（Artibeus jamaicensis）研究了这些肌肉的功能。当这些肌肉被肉毒杆菌毒素麻痹时，蝙蝠的首选飞行速度下降，并且它们无法以非常低的速度飞行。翼膜的麻痹也导致翼幅弯曲增加，这与调节空气弹性相互作用的假设作用一致。其他代偿运动学特征包括下冲程角度增加和翅膀拍动幅度增加。这些结果与蝙蝠经历的增加的阻力和与失去翼膜控制相关的飞行动力成本一致。我们的结果表明，A. jamaicensis 可能在持续飞行中始终使用它们的翅膀膜肌肉来控制弯曲度，并在广泛的飞行包络范围内提高飞行效率。
