Allometry of hummingbird lifting performance
- 1 March 2010
- journal article
- Published by The Company of Biologists in Journal of Experimental Biology
- Vol. 213 (5), 725-734
- https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.037002
Abstract
SUMMARY Vertical lifting performance in 67 hummingbird species was studied across a 4000 m elevational gradient. We used the technique of asymptotic load-lifting to elicit maximum sustained muscle power output during loaded hovering flight. Our analysis incorporated direct measurements of maximum sustained load and simultaneous wingbeat kinematics, together with aerodynamic estimates of mass-specific mechanical power output, all within a robust phylogenetic framework for the Trochilidae. We evaluated key statistical factors relevant to estimating slopes for allometric relationships by performing analyses with and without phylogenetic information, and incorporating species-specific measurement error. We further examined allometric relationships at different elevations because this gradient represents a natural experiment for studying physical challenges to animal flight mechanics. Maximum lifting capacity (i.e. vertical force production) declined with elevation, but was either isometric or negatively allometric with respect to both body and muscle mass, depending on elevational occurrence of the corresponding taxa. Maximum relative muscle power output exhibited a negative allometry with respect to muscle mass, supporting theoretical predictions from muscle mechanics.This publication has 50 references indexed in Scilit:
- The physiology and biomechanics of avian flight at high altitudeIntegrative and Comparative Biology, 2006
- Scaling of maximum net force output by motors used for locomotionJournal of Experimental Biology, 2005
- Aerodynamic forces of revolving hummingbird wings and wing modelsJournal of Zoology, 2004
- Of Hummingbirds and Helicopters: Hovering Costs, Competitive Ability, and Foraging StrategiesThe American Naturalist, 2004
- Origin of hummingbird faunasBiological Journal of the Linnean Society, 1998
- Hummingbird flight: Sustaining the highest mass-specific metabolic rates among vertebratesCellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 1992
- Phylogenies and the Comparative MethodThe American Naturalist, 1985
- The aerodynamics of hovering insect flight. II. Morphological parametersPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences, 1984
- Community Organization Among Neotropical Nectar-Feeding BirdsAmerican Zoologist, 1978
- Der Schwirrflug des Kolibri im ZeitlupenfilmJournal of Ornithology, 1939