A proximal-distal difference in bat wing muscle thermal sensitivity parallels a difference in operating temperatures along the wing.

ABSTRACT: Flight is a demanding form of locomotion, requiring fast activation and relaxation in wing muscles to produce the necessary wingbeat frequencies. Bats maintain high body temperatures during flight, but their wing muscles cool under typical environmental conditions. Because distal wing muscles are colder during flight than proximal muscles, we hypothesized that they would be less temperature sensitive to compensate for temperature effects, resulting in proximal-distal differences in temperature sensitivity that match differences in muscle operating temperature. We measured contractile rates across temperatures in the proximal pectoralis muscle and an interosseous in the handwing of Carollia perspicillata, a small neotropical fruit bat, and compared their thermal dependence with that

SUBMITTER: Rummel AD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8113918 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature