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Animal Locomotion: Physical Principles and Adaptations is a
professional-level, state of the art review and reference
summarizing the current understanding of macroscopic metazoan
animal movement. The comparative biophysics, biomechanics and
bioengineering of swimming, flying and terrestrial locomotion are
placed in contemporary frameworks of biodiversity, evolutionary
process, and modern research methods, including mathematical
analysis. The intended primary audience is advanced-level students
and researchers primarily interested in and trained in mathematics,
physical sciences and engineering. Although not encyclopedic in its
coverage, anyone interested in organismal biology, functional
morphology, organ systems and ecological physiology, physiological
ecology, molecular biology, molecular genetics and systems biology
should find this book useful.
Animal Locomotion: Physical Principles and Adaptations is a
professional-level, state of the art review and reference
summarizing the current understanding of macroscopic metazoan
animal movement. The comparative biophysics, biomechanics and
bioengineering of swimming, flying and terrestrial locomotion are
placed in contemporary frameworks of biodiversity, evolutionary
process, and modern research methods, including mathematical
analysis. The intended primary audience is advanced-level students
and researchers primarily interested in and trained in mathematics,
physical sciences and engineering. Although not encyclopedic in its
coverage, anyone interested in organismal biology, functional
morphology, organ systems and ecological physiology, physiological
ecology, molecular biology, molecular genetics and systems biology
should find this book useful.
Bird flight has always intrigued mankind. This book provides an up
to date account of our existing knowledge on the subject, as well
as offering new insights and challenging some established views.
A brief history of the science of flight introduces the basic
physical principles governing aerial locomotion. A treatment of
flight-related functional morphology concentrates on the difference
in shape of the arm and hand part of the wings, on the structure
and function of tails, and on the shape of the body. The anatomy
and mechanical properties of feathers receive special attention.
Aerodynamic principles used by birds are explained in theory by
simply applying Newton's laws, and in practice by showing the
direction and velocity of the attached flow around an arm wing
cross section and of the leading edge vortex flow above a hand
wing. The Archaeopteryx fossils remain crucial in our understanding
of the evolution of bird flight despite the recent discovery of a
range of well-preserved ancient birds.
A novel insight into the interactions between wings and air
challenges established theories relating to the origin of bird
flight. Take-off, flapping flight, gliding and landing are the
basic ingredients of bird flight, and birds use a variety of flight
styles from hovering to soaring. Flight muscles consisting of
mosaics of specialized fibers are the engines that generate the
force required to keep the wings and tail in the gliding
configuration and perform work during flapping motion. The energy
required to fly can be estimated or measured directly, and a
comparison of empirical results provides insights into the trend in
metabolic costs of flight of birds varying in shape and massfrom
hummingbirds to albatrosses.
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