No cost of echolocation for bats in flight

Echolocation has evolved in relatively few animal species. One constraint may be the high cost of producing pulses, the echoes of which can be detected over useful distances. The energy cost of echolocation in a small (6 g) insectivorous bat, when hanging at rest, was recently measured at 0.067 Joules per pulse, implying a mean cost for echolocation in flight of 9.5 x basal metabolic rate (range 7 to 12x). Because flight is very costly, whether the costs of echolocation and flying are additive is an important question. We measured the energy costs of flight in two species of small echolocating Microchiroptera using a novel combination of respirometry and doubly-labelled water. Flight energy expenditure (adjusted for body mass) was not significantly different between echolocating bats and non-echolocating bats and birds. The low cost of echolocation for flying vertebrates may have been a significant factor favouring its evolution in these groups.     

Primitive Early Eocene bat from Wyoming and the evolution of flight and echolocation

Bats (Chiroptera) represent one of the largest and most diverse radiations of mammals, accounting for one-fifth of extant species. Although recent studies unambiguously support bat monophyly and consensus is rapidly emerging about evolutionary relationships among extant lineages, the fossil record of bats extends over 50 million years, and early evolution of the group remains poorly understood. Here we describe a new bat from the Early Eocene Green River Formation of Wyoming, USA, with features that are more primitive than seen in any previously known bat. The evolutionary pathways that led to flapping flight and echolocation in bats have been in dispute, and until now fossils have been of limited use in documenting transitions involved in this marked change in lifestyle. Phylogenetically informed comparisons of the new taxon with other bats and non-flying mammals reveal that critical morphological and functional changes evolved incrementally. Forelimb anatomy indicates that the new bat was capable of powered flight like other Eocene bats, but ear morphology suggests that it lacked their echolocation abilities, supporting a 'flight first' hypothesis for chiropteran evolution. The shape of the wings suggests that an undulating gliding-fluttering flight style may be primitive for bats, and the presence of a long calcar indicates that a broad tail membrane evolved early in Chiroptera, probably functioning as an additional airfoil rather than as a prey-capture device. Limb proportions and retention of claws on all digits indicate that the new bat may have been an agile climber that employed quadrupedal locomotion and under-branch hanging behaviour.     

Wing bone stresses in free flying bats and the evolution of skeletal design for flight.

The primary mechanical functions of limb bones are to resist deformation, and hence provide stiff levers against which muscles can act, and to be sufficiently strong to prevent breaking under static or dynamic loads which arise from normal and accidental activities. If bones perform these functions with a minimum amount of material, the energetic costs associated with building, maintaining and transporting the skeleton will be minimized. Appropriate skeletal architecture for minimizing mass while maximizing strength depends on forces imposed on structural elements. In the evolutionary acquisition of flight in the bat lineage, the forelimb skeleton must have come to experience locomotor-forces that differed from those engendered by the terrestrial locomotion of non-flying bat relatives. Here we successfully measure in vivo strain on the wing bones of flying mammals. Our data demonstrate that torsion and shear are unique and crucial features of skeletal biomechanics during flight, and suggest that the evolution of skeletal design in bats and other flying vertebrates may be driven by the need to resist these loads.     

引入PSO加速因子和个体认知的改进蝙蝠算法

针对蝙蝠算法后期收敛速度慢,易陷入早熟收敛,求解精度低的缺点,提出一种引入粒子群算法中的个体认知与加速因子的改进方法。该方法增加了蝙蝠的个体历史飞行经验,提高了个体自主性,以避免群体经验过度影响带来的进化能力丧失;利用加速因子对速度的控制,增加蝙蝠的可飞行范围,提高搜索能力,加快收敛速度。最后选取标准测试函数对设置不同加速因子的改进算法进行仿真验证,并与基本蝙蝠算法进行对比,结果显示改进后的算法在收敛速度和求解精度上有进一步提高。     

数据驱动的飞行动画设计与实现

飞行数据记录器记录了大量的飞机飞行性能、飞行状态数据。从飞行数据中生成反映飞行过程的三维动画是飞行数据处理的一项重要任务。笔者应用面向对象技术,给出了数据驱动的飞行动画系统的设计思想和实现方法。     

依据回声定位声波参数判别同域栖息的蝙蝠种类

利用超声波监听仪(D 980)在同一研究区域内记录到5种蝙蝠63个个体自然飞行状态下回声定位的叫声138次.依据声谱图可分为(FM/)CF/FM型(马铁菊头蝠Rhinolo-phus ferrumequinum)和FM型(绯鼠耳蝠Myotis formosus、伊氏鼠耳蝠Myotis ikonnikovi、水鼠耳蝠Myotis daubentoni和白腹管鼻蝠Murina leucogaster).马铁菊头蝠的声波能够比较容易地从5个种类中辨别出来.采用逐步判别分析方法对其他4种蝙蝠回声定位声波的6个参数进行了判别,结果显示,蝙蝠种类判别正确率为84.1%.表明回声定位声波参数在蝙蝠种类识别中具有重要作用,可用于检验研究区域内依据体型鉴定蝙蝠种类的准确度,也可为预测蝙蝠对生境的利用方式提供依据.     

A Mesozoic gliding mammal from northeastern China

Gliding flight has independently evolved many times in vertebrates. Direct evidence of gliding is rare in fossil records and is unknown in mammals from the Mesozoic era. Here we report a new Mesozoic mammal from Inner Mongolia, China, that represents a previously unknown group characterized by a highly specialized insectivorous dentition and a sizable patagium (flying membrane) for gliding flight. The patagium is covered with dense hair and supported by an elongated tail and limbs; the latter also bear many features adapted for arboreal life. This discovery extends the earliest record of gliding flight for mammals to at least 70 million years earlier in geological history, and demonstrates that early mammals were diverse in their locomotor strategies and lifestyles; they had experimented with an aerial habit at about the same time as, if not earlier than, when birds endeavoured to exploit the sky.     

Navigation: bat orientation using Earth's magnetic field

Bats famously orientate at night by echolocation, but this works over only a short range, and little is known about how they navigate over longer distances. Here we show that the homing behaviour of Eptesicus fuscus, known as the big brown bat, can be altered by artificially shifting the Earth's magnetic field, indicating that these bats rely on a magnetic compass to return to their home roost. This finding adds to the impressive array of sensory abilities possessed by this animal for navigation in the dark.     

蝙蝠回声定位叫声的时频分析

大多蝙蝠回声定位叫声属于非平稳信号,目前大多专用商业软件采用短时傅立叶变换(STFT:Short Time Fourier Transform)对其进行分析.STFT存在时频分辨率不高的缺点,因此研究其它时频分析方法在蝙蝠回声定位叫声分析中的应用很有意义.以一大棕蝠(Eptesicus fuscus)回声定位叫声为例比较了几种时频分析方法的应用效果,为编写蝙蝠回声定位叫声信号分析软件选择一种合适的时频分析方法提供依据.     

Biomechanics: independent evolution of running in vampire bats

Most tetrapods have retained terrestrial locomotion since it evolved in the Palaeozoic era, but bats have become so specialized for flight that they have almost lost the ability to manoeuvre on land at all. Vampire bats, which sneak up on their prey along the ground, are an important exception. Here we show that common vampire bats can also run by using a unique bounding gait, in which the forelimbs instead of the hindlimbs are recruited for force production as the wings are much more powerful than the legs. This ability to run seems to have evolved independently within the bat lineage.     

Ultraviolet vision in a bat

Most mammals, with the exception of primates, have dichromatic vision and correspondingly limited colour perception. Ultraviolet vision was discovered in mammals only a decade ago, and in the few rodents and marsupials where it has been found, ultraviolet light is detected by an independent photoreceptor. Bats orient primarily by echolocation, but they also use vision. Here we show that a phyllostomid flower bat, Glossophaga soricina, is colour-blind but sensitive to ultraviolet light down to a wavelength of 310 nm. Behavioural experiments revealed a spectral-sensitivity function with maxima at 510 nm (green) and above 365 nm (ultraviolet). A test for colour vision was negative. Chromatic adaptation had the same threshold-elevating effects on ultraviolet and visible test lights, indicating that the same photoreceptor is responsible for both response peaks (ultraviolet and green). Thus, excitation of the beta-band of the visual pigment is the most likely cause of ultraviolet sensitivity. This is a mechanism for ultraviolet vision that has not previously been demonstrated in intact mammalian visual systems.     

Flying in a flock comes at a cost in pigeons

Flying birds often form flocks, with social, navigational and anti-predator implications. Further, flying in a flock can result in aerodynamic benefits, thus reducing power requirements, as demonstrated by a reduction in heart rate and wingbeat frequency in pelicans flying in a V-formation. But how general is an aerodynamic power reduction due to group-flight? V-formation flocks are limited to moderately steady flight in relatively large birds, and may represent a special case. What are the aerodynamic consequences of flying in the more usual 'cluster' flock? Here we use data from innovative back-mounted Global Positioning System (GPS) and 6-degrees-of-freedom inertial sensors to show that pigeons (1) maintain powered, banked turns like aircraft, imposing dorsal accelerations of up to 2g, effectively doubling body weight and quadrupling induced power requirements; (2) increase flap frequency with increases in all conventional aerodynamic power requirements; and (3) increase flap frequency when flying near, particularly behind, other birds. Therefore, unlike V-formation pelicans, pigeons do not gain an aerodynamic advantage from flying in a flock. Indeed, the increased flap frequency, whether due to direct aerodynamic interactions or requirements for increased stability or control, suggests a considerable energetic cost to flight in a tight cluster flock.     

基于Arduino 的四旋翼飞行器控制系统设计

为改善滤波效果, 针对四旋翼飞行器滤波算法计算量大的问题, 采用基于Kalman 与DMP(Digital Motion Processing)滤波相结合的姿态数据处理算法及PID( Proportion-Integration-Differentiation)姿态控制算法, 设计了四旋翼飞行器控制系统。系统硬件由Arduino 控制板及四旋翼飞行器平台组成,在此平台基础上建立了飞行器动力学模型并对Kalman 滤波器及PID 控制器参数进行调试。实际飞行结果表明, 该系统能对飞行姿态的偏移进行快速调整, 调整灵敏度和稳态时间得到明显改善, 有效地完成对四旋翼飞行器的稳定控制。     

A variant of the mammalian somatotopic map in a bat

Two ordered representations of the body surface, S-I and S-II, have been described on the cortical surface of the brains of a variety of mammals; additional separate topographical maps have been found in the somatosensory cortex of the cat and monkey. Except for minor variations in the placement of the body parts, the basic somatotopy of the maps is remarkably consistent across species. As the reasons for this consistency and the minor variations are unclear, we examined the somatotopy of the bat, whose body plan has been modified extensively so that the forelimb can be used for flight. We report here that in both S-I and S-II of the grey-headed flying fox, not only is the representation of the distal forelimb displaced from its usual position on the map, but the digits are directed caudally instead of rostrally as they are in all other mammals studied. The variant somatotopy appears to reflect the postural differences between flying and walking mammals, supporting the notion that topographical maps may have functional significance apart from their point-to-point connections with the sensory periphery.     

Effect of acoustic clutter on prey detection by bats.

Bats that capture animal prey from substrates often emit characteristic echolocation calls that are short-duration, frequency-modulated (FM) and broadband. Such calls seem to be suited to locating prey in uncluttered habitats, including flying prey, but may be less effective for finding prey among cluttered backgrounds because echoes reflecting from the substrate mask the acoustic signature of prey. Perhaps these call designs serve primarily for spatial orientation. Furthermore, it has been unclear whether the acoustic image conveyed by FM echoes enables fine texture discrimination, or whether gleaning bats that forage in echo-cluttering environments must locate prey by using other cues, such as prey-generated sounds. Here we show that two species of insectivorous gleaning bats perform badly when compelled to detect silent and immobile prey in clutter, but are very efficient at capturing noisy prey items among highly cluttered backgrounds, and both dead or live prey in uncluttered habitats. These findings suggest that the short, broadband FM echolocation calls associated with gleaning bats are not adapted to detecting prey in clutter.     

Evidence for a spectral basis of texture perception in bat sonar

Bats obtain information about the structure of objects in the outside world from their echolocation signals, an extremely useful method when hunting non-flying prey in densely cluttered habitats, for example. Information about object structure is contained both in the time and in the spectral interference patterns of signals reflected from surfaces at different distances from the bat. I report here an experiment designed to test the extent to which bats use these two types of information. A 'phantom target' is generated by playing back to an echolocating bat signals that mimic the result of reflection from two planes set at different distances. The ability of the bat to discriminate between two such targets is investigated as a function of the separations of the planes. Several of the results do not fit the hypothesis that the bat simply uses time-delay information: the very small time difference that can be discriminated, the fall off in ability to discriminate planes at a particular separation and the symmetry of the discrimination ability measured in the frequency domain. The empirical data can best be fitted by a function based on spectral correlation.     

飞行汽车混动系统动力电池和增程器的协调控制

城市空中交通（UAM）,是近期解决当前地面交通拥堵困境的有效方法。因此,研究飞行汽车典型飞行任务剖面下的动力系统工作特性至关重要。由于电池能量密度的限制以及纯电动飞行汽车的里程限制,因此使用油电混合作为飞行汽车的动力系统更为合理。本文总结了垂直起降飞行汽车（VTOL）任务剖面下混动系统运行性能的相关研究。基于MATLAB Simulink,提出一种混合动力的协调方法,其中同时考虑了两种操作模式。根据实际操作条件,预设了垂直起降和平飞两种工况下不同的操作模式。在此基础上,研究了作为主要电源的增程器调节功率流和提高增程器工作效率的电池的协调。直流母线电压则由DC/DC转换器调节。为了有利于电池组的整体寿命,实现了充电和放电状态期间的功率共享。仿真结果表明,可以很好地控制直流母线电压,并且增程器和电池之间的功率共享遵循设计。     

Mission planning of the flying robot for powerline inspection

Mission planning is an important step in the powerline inspection flying robots. To deal with the tasks of powerline flying robots, a flying robot mission-planning system is established based on the unmanned mini-helicopter model described in this paper. It can determine the best checking order, the optimal space path and the best flight trajectory. The objective function and the constraints are described by establishing the mathematical model, and the mission-planning system is decomposed by using the tiered methods. Multi-agent technology is chosen to solve the mission-planning issue. Finally, simulation is conducted to verify that the mission-planning system is feasible and efficient.     

Coexistence of two sympatric and mOrpho1ogically similar bat species Rhinolophus affnis and Rhinolophus pearsoni

Ecologists have long focused on the coexistence of sympatric species.Here,we investigated two horseshoe bat species,Rhinolophus affinis and Rhinolophus pearsoni inhabited in the same cave,for their foraging strategies,niche differentiation,prey selection,and their coexistence status.These two species of horseshoe bats were ditierent in the dominant frequency of their echolocation calls.but similar in their morphology.We found evidence for prey selectivity although there was a high degree of overlap in prey categories and sizes.R affinis and R pearsoni foraged on 16 and 7 categories insects,respectively,with Pyralidae,Geometridae,Melolonthidae dominating their diets.The degree of trophic niche overlap was 0.69.Pairwise comparisons suggested that there was no obvious differentiation in prey categories and size.However,high prey availability in the environment(Simpson diversity index=0.79 and Margalef richness index=4.121 contributed to their coexistence by dampening the interspecific competition.Since there are one or more mechanisms facilitating species coexistence in a community,our results suggest that the spatial niche differentiation in foraging microhabitats and in foraging habitats at landscape scale may promote the coexistence of the two bat species.However,additional field data are needed to confirm this speculation.     

Coexistence of two sympatric and morphologically similar bat species Rhinolophus affinis and Rhinolophus pearsoni

Ecologists have long focused on the coexistence of sympatric species. Here, we investigated two horseshoe bat species, Rhinolophus affinis and Rhinolophus pearsoni inhabited in the same cave, for their foraging strategies, niche differentiation, prey selection, and their coexistence status. These two species of horseshoe bats were different in the dominant frequency of their echolocation calls, but similar in their morphology. We found evidence for prey selectivity although there was a high degree of overlap in prey categories and sizes. R. affinis and R. pearsoni foraged on 16 and 7 categories insects, respectively, with Pyralidae, Geometridae, Melolonthidae dominating their diets. The degree of trophic niche overlap was 0.69. Pairwise comparisons suggested that there was no obvious differentiation in prey categories and size. However, high prey availability in the environment （Simpson diversity index = 0.79 and Margalef richness index = 4.12） contributed to their coexistence by dampening the interspecific competition. Since there are one or more mechanisms facil- itating species coexistence in a community, our results suggest that the spatial niche differentiation in foraging rnicrohabitats and in foraging habitats at landscape scale may promote the coexistence of the two bat species. However, additional field data are needed to confirm this speculation.