• Animals

    The data presented on this website come from the nectar feeding bat species Leptonycteris yerbabuenae, which originates in Mexico and southern USA. It has a wing span of ~33cm and it weighs ~23g.

    Animals

    Image A.Hedenström

  • Wind tunnel

    All experiments were performed in the wind tunnel at Lund University, Sweden, which was exclusively constructed for the study of animal flight. The image shows the setup for the data capture.

    Wind tunnel

    Image Rhea von Busse

  • Kinematics

    The wing movements of the flying bats were captured from the side and from below using high-speed cameras, operating at 250 Hz. Both cameras were synchronized to record at the exact same time.

    Data capture

    Image Rhea von Busse

  • Aerodynamics

    The wakes behind the flying bat were recorded using stereo digital particle image velocimetry. The image shows a resulting vector field, with arrows pointing in the direction of the air movement and colors indicating the strength.

    Vortex wakes

    Image Rhea von Busse