Meeting Abstract
Bats roost head-under heels, requiring them to perform acrobatic maneuvers to reposition the limbs for landing. These maneuvers differ among bat species, and have diversified into at least three distinct landing styles, described as two-point, three-point, or four-point landings based on the number of limbs used to grasp the landing surface. Each style is associated with two additional features: characteristic body rotations and peak impact forces. For example, four-point landings involve simple rotations (pitch only) and are associated with relatively high peak impact forces, whereas two-point landings involve combinations of pitch, yaw, and roll to contact the ceiling with only the hindlimbs at lower peak impact forces. However, these patterns are currently described for only three species, representing two of nineteen extant families of bats. For this reason, the distribution of landing styles across extant bats is unknown, and the functional correlation between rotational complexity and impact force remains unresolved. We sampled landings across a diverse range of bat species, using high speed videography to record body rotations and a force plate to measure 3D peak impact forces. We then compared two-, three-, and four-point landings and a failed landing attempt. Our results show that landing styles involving more complex rotations consistently result in lower peak impact forces across all sampled species. This suggests that increased control over the body’s rotational degrees of freedom permits more complex landing maneuvers that function to reduce impact force.
