Hot topics close

The respiratory system influences flight mechanics in soaring birds

The respiratory system influences flight mechanics in soaring birds
An investigation of the subpectoral diverticulum—an inflatable air sac structure between the major flight muscles—in 68 avian species reveals that the respiratory system has a role in the mechanics of flight in soaring birds.
  • Duncker, H. R. The lung air sac system of birds. A contribution to the functional anatomy of the respiratory apparatus. Ergeb. Anat. Entwicklungsgesch. 45, 1–171 (1971).

    Google Scholar 

  • King, A. S. in International Review of General and Experimental Zoology Vol. 2 (eds Felts, J. L. & Harrison, R. J.) 96 (Academic, 1966).

  • Maina, J. N. What it takes to fly: the structural and functional respiratory refinements in birds and bats. J. Exp. Biol. 203, 3045–3064 (2000).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lockner, F. R. & Murrish, D. E. Interclavicular air sac pressures and vocalization in mallard ducks Anas platyrhynchos. Compar. Biochem. Physiol. A 52, 183–187 (1975).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Plummer, E. M. & Goller, F. Singing with reduced air sac volume causes uniform decrease in airflow and sound amplitude in the zebra finch. J. Exp. Biol. 211, 66–78 (2008).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Akester, A. R., Pomeroy, D. E. & Purton, M. D. Subcutaneous air pourches in the Marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumeniferus). J. Zool. 170, 493–499 (1973).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rusli, M. A brief report on the development of dorsal air sacs in hand reared Von der Decken’s hornbills (Tockus deckeni). Avian Biol. Res. 13, 87–91 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daoust, P.-Y., Dobbin, G. V., Ridlington Abbot, R. C. F. & Dawson, S. D. Descriptive anatomy of the subcutaneous air diverticula in the northern gannet Morus bassanus. Seabird 21, 64–76 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, F. Functional aspects of the pneumatic system of the California brown pelican. Condor 41, 13–17 (1939).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groebbels, F. Der Vogel Vol. I (Borntraeger, 1932).

  • Strasser, H. Ueber die Luftsäcke der Vögel. Gegenbaurs Morphol. Jahrbuch 3, 179–225 (1877).

    Google Scholar 

  • Biewener, A. A. Muscle function in avian flight: achieving power and control. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B 366, 1496–1506 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamlet, M. P. & Fisher, H. I. Air sacs of respiratory origin in some procellariiform birds. Condor 69, 586–595 (1967).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ulrich, F. in Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der deutschenTiefsee-Expedition auf dem Dampfer “Valdivia” 1898–1899 Vol. 7, 319–342 (1904).

  • Brackenbury, J. H. Airflow dynamics in the avian lung as determined by direct and indirect methods. Respir. Physiol. 13, 319–329 (1971).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bretz, W. L. & Schmidt-Nielsen, K. Bird respiration: flow patterns in the duck lung. J. Exp. Biol. 54, 103–118 (1971).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bruderer, B., Peter, D., Boldt, A. & Liechti, F. Wing-beat characteristics of birds recorded with tracking radar and cine camera. Ibis 152, 272–291 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lovette, I. J. & Fitzpatrick, J. W. (eds) The Cornell Lab of Ornithology Handbook of Bird Biology (Wiley, 2016).

  • Pennycuick, C. J. Modelling the Flying Bird (Elsevier, 2008).

  • Huelsenbeck, J. P., Nielsen, R. & Bollback, J. P. Stochastic mapping of morphological characters. Syst. Biol. 52, 131–158 (2003).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Revell, L. J. Two new graphical methods for mapping trait evolution on phylogenies. Methods Ecol. Evol. 4, 754–759 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garde, B. et al. Thermal soaring in tropicbirds suggests that diverse seabirds may use this strategy to reduce flight costs. Mar. Ecol. Progr. Ser. 723, 171–183 (2023).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Hedrick, T. L., Pichot, C. & de Margerie, E. Gliding for a free lunch: biomechanics of foraging flight in common swifts (Apus apus). J. Exp. Biol. 221, jeb186270 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sapir, N., Wikelski, M., McCue, M. D., Pinshow, B. & Nathan, R. Flight modes in migrating european bee-eaters: heart rate may indicate low metabolic rate during soaring and gliding. PLoS One 5, e13956 (2010).

    Article  ADS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Pagel, M. Detecting correlated evolution on phylogenies: a general method for the comparative analysis of descrete characters. Proc. R. Soc. B 255, 37–45 (1994).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Felsenstein, J. A comparative method for both discrete and continuous characters using the threshold model. Am. Nat. 179, 145–156 (2012).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Charles, J., Kissane, R., Hoerhurtner, T. & Bates, K. T. From fibre to function: are we accurately representing muscle architecture and performance? Biol. Rev. 97, 1640–1676 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tobalske, B. W. Biomechanics of bird flight. J. Exp. Biol. 210, 3135–3146 (2007).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Owen, R. in The Cyclopædia of Anatomy and Physiology Vol. 1 (ed. Todd, R. B.) 265–358 (Sherwood, Gilbert and Piper, 1836).

  • Azizi, E., Brainerd, E. L. & Roberts, T. J. Variable gearing in pennate muscles. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 105, 1745–1750 (2008).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, N. P., Barclay, C. J. & Loiselle, D. S. The efficiency of muscle contraction. Prog. Biophys. Mol. Biol. 88, 1–58 (2005).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Casler, C. L. The air-sac systems and buoyancy of the anhinga and double-crested cormorant. Auk 90, 324–340 (1973).

    Google Scholar 

  • Boggs, D. F. Interactions between locomotion and ventilation in tetrapods. Compar. Biochem. Physiol. A 133, 269–288 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boggs, D. F., Jenkins, F. A. Jr & Dial, K. P. The effects of the wingbeat cycle on respiration in black-billed magpies (Pica pica). J. Exp. Biol. 200, 1403–1412 (1997).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lawson, A. B., Hedrick, B. P., Echols, S. & Schachner, E. R. Anatomy, variation, and asymmetry of the bronchial tree in the African grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus). J. Anat. 282, 701–719 (2021).

    Google Scholar 

  • Schachner, E. R. et al. Perspectives on lung visualization: three-dimensional anatomical modeling of computed and micro-computed tomographic data in comparative evolutionary morphology and medicine with applications for COVID-19. Anat. Rec. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25300 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowi-Merri, T. M., Benson, R. B. J., Claramunt, S. & Evans, D. C. The relationship between sternum variation and mode of locomotion in birds. BMC Biol. 19, 165 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lowi-Merri, T. M. et al. Reconstructing locomotor ecology of extinct avialans: a case study of Ichthyornis comparing sternum morphology and skeletal proportions. Proc. R. Soc. B 290, 20222020 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Prum, R. O. et al. A comprehensive phylogeny of birds (Aves) using targeted next-generation DNA sequencing. Nature 526, 569–573 (2015).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cooney, C. R. et al. Mega-evolutionary dynamics of the adaptive radiation of birds. Nature 542, 344–347 (2017).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Jetz, W., Thomas, G. H., Joy, J. B., Hartmann, K. & Mooers, A. O. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491, 444–491 (2012).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pennell, M. W. et al. geiger v2.0: an expanded suite of methods for fitting macroevolutionary models to phylogenetic trees. Bioinformatics 30, 2216–2218 (2014).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Revell, L. J. phytools: an R package for phylogenetic comparative biology (and other things). Methods Ecol. Evol. 2, 217–223 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maddison, W. P. & FitzJohn, R. G. The unsolved challenge to phylogenetic correlation tests for categorical characters. Syst. Biol. 64, 127–136 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Uyeda, J. C., Zenil-Ferguson, R. & Pennell, M. W. Rethinking phylogenetic comparative methods. Syst. Biol. 67, 1091–1109 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Revell, L. J. Ancestral character estimation under the threshold model from quantitative genetics. Evolution 68, 743–759 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kissane, R. W. P., Egginton, S. & Askew, G. N. Regional variation in the mechanical properties and fibre-type composition of the rat extensor digitorum longus muscle. Exp. Physiol. 103, 111–124 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boggs, D. F. & Dial, K. P. Neuromuscular organization and regional EMG activity of the pectoralis in the pigeon. J. Morphol. 218, 43–57 (1993).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bates, K. T. & Schachner, E. R. Disparity and convergence in bipedal archosaur locomotion. J. R. Soc. Interface 70, 1339–1353 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dempsey, M., Maidment, S. C. R., Hedrick, B. P. & Bates, K. T. Convergent evolution of quadrupedalism in ornithischian dinosaurs was achieved through disparate forelimb muscle mechanics. Proc. R. Soc. B 290, 20222435 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Macaulay, S. et al. Decoupling body shape and mass-distribution in birds and their dinosaurian ancestors. Nat. Commun. 14, 1575 (2023).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • News Archive
    • Horoscope 2024
      Horoscope 2024
      Your horoscope for the week ahead: Ease into 2024 by conserving ...
      1 Jan 2024
      1
    • Space debris
      Space debris
      When Space Junk Fell on My Neighbor’s Farm, the Law Had Few Answers for Us
      13 Jul 2024
      38
    • Chrono Trigger
      Chrono Trigger
      Random: Um, Why Has Square Enix Re-Uploaded The Final Fantasy 9 Trailer?
      15 Mar 2022
      1
    • Ivan Kuliak
      Ivan Kuliak
      Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak facing ban for pro-invasion symbol on podium
      7 Mar 2022
      6
    • Mojang Studios
      Mojang Studios
      Minecraft Dungeons: Everything you Need to Know about The New 'Luminous Night' Seasonal Adventure
      6 Apr 2022
      1
    This week's most popular news