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Air Flow Sensing in Bats

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Flow Sensing in Air and Water

Abstract

Bats are the only mammals capable of powered flight, and impress with complicated aerial maneuvers like tight turns, hovering, or perching upside-down. The bat wing membrane is covered with microscopically small hairs that are associated with a variety of tactile receptors at the follicle. The directionality profile of neuronal responses to air flow—as measured in the somatosensory cortex of the bats—indicates that the hairs respond strongest to reverse airflow, and might therefore act as stall detectors. We found that depilation of different functional regions of the wing membrane alters flight behavior in obstacle avoidance tasks by reducing aerial maneuverability, as indicated by wider turning angles and increased flight speed. We provide here for the first time electrophysiological and behavioral data showing that bat wing hairs are involved in sensorimotor flight control by providing aerodynamic feedback.

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Abbreviations

CX:

Cerebral cortex

D:

Digit

IC:

Inferior colliculus

IFM:

Interfemoral membrane

K20:

Monoclonal keratin antibody

OB:

Olfactory bulb

S1:

Primary somatosensory cortex

SC:

Superior colliculus

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Acknowledgments

This study was sponsored by air force office of scientific research (AFOSR), MURI grant “Bio-inspired flight for micro-air vehicles.” Data collected under research protocol, “Somatosensory signaling for flight control,” approved by the University of Maryland Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. We thank Mohit Chadha, Wei Xian, Ben Falk, and Aaron Reynolds for contributions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland, Building 144, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Susanne J. Sterbing-D’Angelo

  2. Department of Psychology, Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland, Building 144, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Cynthia F. Moss

Authors
  1. Susanne J. Sterbing-D’Angelo
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  2. Cynthia F. Moss
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Susanne J. Sterbing-D’Angelo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Zoology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Horst Bleckmann

  2. Institute for Zoology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Joachim Mogdans

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, USA

    Sheryl L. Coombs

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Sterbing-D’Angelo, S.J., Moss, C.F. (2014). Air Flow Sensing in Bats. In: Bleckmann, H., Mogdans, J., Coombs, S. (eds) Flow Sensing in Air and Water. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41446-6_8

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