Who does not know that when bats are landing … oh, what a wrong word … well, in general, when they go to land, they cling to something with their feet and hang like that. Why don't they land on their feet like all normal creatures?
And here's why …
A research group from Brown University has been studying the principles of flight of bats - bats and fruit bats - for many years. These animals are masters of aerodynamics and maneuverability, primarily due to the unique structure of their wings. With a large number of joints and a thin flexible film, the wing can be used in flight in many ways, including performing a 180 degree turn.
The folding of the wings with each upward swing helps to conserve energy during flight. Although it takes energy, the overall balance is positive. It is for this reason that animals do not fly in the rain: folding wet wings is too energy-intensive. The secret of unusual vertical landing of bats has also been revealed. Before performing an action, the birds only slow down, but the bats needed to develop their own ways. With light and fragile bones, they have disproportionately massive wings. Due to this structure of the body, the limbs must experience a large shock load during landing, which leads to damage. In an effort to minimize these consequences, bats have evolutionarily "invented" several acrobatic maneuvers, completing a flight with two or four "touches."
The “four touches” tactic was recorded in a number of bats feeding on plant food, in particular, the Malay short-nosed fruit bats (Cynopterus brachyotis). During the experiments, scientists noted that they fly up to the ceiling with their wings spread. At the moment of contact with the surface, the limbs are extended, and the animals grab any available protrusion with the thumbs of the forelimbs simultaneously with the fingers of the hind limbs. Then they do a backward roll over their heads and finally hang upside down. With such a landing, the winged bird experiences four-fold overload and can hit its head; therefore, in nature, bats using the "four-touch" tactic most often land on trees: their surface is softer compared to stone caves
A shrew-like long-tongued vampire (Glossophaga soricina), a spectacled leaf-bearer (Carollia perspicillata) and many other species of bats land in "two touches". They learned how to accurately calculate the distance to the surface, flying up to it perpendicularly and at the very last moment sharply deviating to the right or left. They grab the ledge only with the fingers of the hind limbs, due to which the landing is smoother, and the overload during impact is only one third of the body weight. This allows them to dwell in caves.
This position has its advantages - for example, this way bats are much better protected from predators.
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What happens if the mouse falls to the ground?
Recall that evolution first made the thigh bones of mice too thin to keep their bodies in a sitting position. Then they completely lost the ability to take off from a flat surface, since they did not have enough strength to properly push off the ground, nor speed to take off. Nevertheless, they learned to take off from a position upside down, however, as you understand, this requires free space below. In addition, these funny animals can simply fall, spreading their wings already in flight.
And if the mouse suddenly finds itself on the ground, then it will try with all its might to get on some tree or ledge, simultaneously clinging to any support with its tenacious claws on its wings.
How do they manage not to fall, because they hang upside down on their paws all night? And the fact is that the bat does not spend energy to hold on when it hangs upside down. Bats have a special musculature. For example, when a monkey hangs on a branch, it strains the muscles of its paws in order to hold on, but in bats everything is arranged exactly the opposite. When she hangs upside down, her muscles are relaxed, her fingers are clenched, her body hangs on bones and tendons, and her muscles are completely relaxed. The claws grip the support tightly and the weight of the body does not allow them to unclench.