Bats Use Tiny Muscles in Their Wings to Fly Better

A new study of bats has shown that they have tiny muscles in their wings that flex and relax during flight to tighten and loosen the skin that makes up the wing. This adjustability in wing stiffness and shape allows bats to more deftly maneuver through the air. It has been known for over a century that bats had these hair-thin muscles in their wings, but nobody figured out what exactly they were used for until now. The researchers were observing the use of these muscles during flight and noticed that they were flexed during the downstroke and relaxed on the upstroke. This led them to believe that the muscles were used to adjust the wing shape and stiffness rather than any other function, such as acting as sensors of stretch. The muscles are too weak to do much by themselves, but when they are all recruited simultaneously, they have enough strength to reshape the wing for better flight. This finding could translate over to humans and help engineers create flying devices that mimic the style of the bat, since bats are pretty effective at flying.
Read the complete article here.

Bat flying in slow motion

NOS Themes:
Role of Motivation and Curiosity - Researchers were interested in finding out the use of the tiny muscles in bats' wings.
Science is based on evidence - Scientists until now that noticed the muscles could not make any conclusions on what they were for since they did not have enough evidence to support a hypothesis.