ArticleNature communications2017
The biomechanical origin of extreme wing allometry in hummingbirds.
Article in Nature communications, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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16 citing papers in PubMed.
- Mechanisms influencing network topology in plant-hummingbird pollination networks.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Adaptations in wing morphology rather than wingbeat kinematics enable flight in small hoverfly species.eLife · 2025Article
- Deciphering the flapping frequency allometry: unveiling the role of sustained body attitude in the aerodynamic scaling of normal hovering animals.Biology open · 2025Article
- Turkey vultures tune their airspeed to changing air density.The Journal of experimental biology · 2024Article
- Extreme elevational migration spurred cryptic speciation in giant hummingbirds.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- The spatiotemporal richness of hummingbird wing deformations.The Journal of experimental biology · 2024Article
- The Aerodynamic Effect of Biomimetic Pigeon Feathered Wing on a 1-DoF Flapping Mechanism.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Article
- Allometric conservatism in the evolution of bird beaks.Evolution letters · 2022Article
- Genetic relatedness and morphology as drivers of interspecific dominance hierarchy in hummingbirds.PeerJ · 2022Article
- Article
- Zebra finch (Biology open · 2019Article
- Factors affecting the dominance hierarchy dynamics in a hummingbird assemblage.Current zoology · 2019Article
- Article
- Metabolic physiology explains macroevolutionary trends in the melanic colour system across amniotes.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2018Article
- Integrating morphology and kinematics in the scaling of hummingbird hovering metabolic rate and efficiency.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2018Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
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Abstract
Flying animals of different masses vary widely in body proportions, but the functional implications of this variation are often unclear. We address this ambiguity by developing an integrative allometric approach, which we apply here to hummingbirds to examine how the physical environment, wing morphology and stroke kinematics have contributed to the evolution of their highly specialised flight. Surprisingly, hummingbirds maintain constant wing velocity despite an order of magnitude variation in body weight; increased weight is supported solely through disproportionate increases in wing area. Conversely, wing velocity increases with body weight within species, compensating for lower relative wing area in larger individuals. By comparing inter- and intraspecific allometries, we find that the extreme wing area allometry of hummingbirds is likely an adaptation to maintain constant burst flight capacity and induced power requirements with increasing weight. Selection for relatively large wings simultaneously maximises aerial performance and minimises flight costs, which are essential elements of humming bird life history.
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