Journal
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
Volume 213, Issue 5, Pages 725-734Publisher
COMPANY BIOLOGISTS LTD
DOI: 10.1242/jeb.037002
Keywords
allometry; body size; elevation; flight; load-lifting; maximum performance; muscle power output
Categories
Funding
- National Institutes of Health [F32 NS46221]
- National Science Foundation [DEB 0330750, DEB 0543556]
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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.
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