What is the animal that flies the fastest? If you have thought that it is probably the peregrine falcon, you were on the right track, but you have not been right. A team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell, Germany, has discovered that there is a new favorite among the fastest animals in the sky. However, it is not a bird.
Isn’t it a bird? The greatest acrobat of the air is not a peregrine falcon (it reaches 389 kilometers per hour – diving, yes – nor a common swift (it reaches 116 kilometers per hour). It is … a bat: the bat without the tail of Brazil (Tadarida brasiliensis) holds the current record for the fastest animal in horizontal flight, exceeding 160 kilometers per hour.
The aerodynamic shape of its body and wings that are longer than the average of other species of bats, represent the perfect combination to reach such amazing speeds, compensating for the resistance to the air that its body offers. Of course, the females are a little faster than the males, since they weigh somewhat less: about 11 grams (the males about 14 grams).
The funny thing is that due to the structure of their wings, bats generate greater resistance to the air, and are generally considered slower fliers. Here we have the exception to the rule .
Animals with long, narrow wings generally fly faster than those with shorter, wider wings. For this reason, the scientists selected this type of bat for their study. The experts themselves were surprised by their results: “ Initially, we could not believe our data, but it was correct : sometimes, females, who weigh between 11 and 12 grams, flew at speeds of more than 160 kilometers per hour. A new record for horizontal flight “, according to Kamran Safi, co-author of the work.
Data on the flight speeds of the bats were collected using a radio transmitter that weighed only half a gram and which was attached to the animal’s back with an adhesive (which peeled off only after several days). The signal was located using a rover receiver installed on a small plane. “It was not easy for the pilot to follow the animals and measure their flight path continuously”, explains Dina Dechmann, co-author of the work. The scientists also evaluated the data recorded by the nearest weather station and noted the wind conditions at the time of the flights studied.
Credit Image: USFWS / Ann Froschauer
