| Title |
Underwater flight by the planktonic sea butterfly
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Journal of Experimental Biology, February 2016
|
| DOI | 10.1242/jeb.129205 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
David W. Murphy, Deepak Adhikari, Donald R. Webster, Jeannette Yen |
| Abstract |
In a remarkable example of convergent evolution, we show that the zooplanktonic sea butterfly Limacina helicina 'flies' underwater in the same way that very small insects fly in the air. Both sea butterflies and flying insects stroke their wings in a characteristic figure-of-eight pattern to produce lift, and both generate extra lift by peeling their wings apart at the beginning of the power stroke (the well-known Weis-Fogh 'clap-and-fling' mechanism). It is highly surprising to find a zooplankter 'mimicking' insect flight as almost all zooplankton swim in this intermediate Reynolds number range (Re=10-100) by using their appendages as paddles rather than wings. The sea butterfly is also unique in that it accomplishes its insect-like figure-of-eight wing stroke by extreme rotation of its body (what we call 'hyper-pitching'), a paradigm that has implications for micro aerial vehicle (MAV) design. No other animal, to our knowledge, pitches to this extent under normal locomotion. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 37 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | 6 | 16% |
| United States | 5 | 14% |
| United Kingdom | 5 | 14% |
| Norway | 1 | 3% |
| Liechtenstein | 1 | 3% |
| Australia | 1 | 3% |
| Switzerland | 1 | 3% |
| Canada | 1 | 3% |
| Unknown | 16 | 43% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 27 | 73% |
| Scientists | 7 | 19% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 2 | 5% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 3% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 64 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 2 | 3% |
| Unknown | 62 | 97% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 20 | 31% |
| Student > Bachelor | 8 | 13% |
| Researcher | 7 | 11% |
| Student > Master | 6 | 9% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 4 | 6% |
| Other | 12 | 19% |
| Unknown | 7 | 11% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 22 | 34% |
| Engineering | 15 | 23% |
| Physics and Astronomy | 4 | 6% |
| Psychology | 3 | 5% |
| Earth and Planetary Sciences | 2 | 3% |
| Other | 10 | 16% |
| Unknown | 8 | 13% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 751. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 22 September 2022.
All research outputs
#26,147
of 25,371,288 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Experimental Biology
#15
of 9,327 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#405
of 311,945 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Experimental Biology
#1
of 161 outputs
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