Muscutt, Luke, Dyke, Gareth, Weymouth, Gabriel, Naish, Darren, Palmer, Colin and Ganapathisubramani, Bharathram (2017) The four-flipper swimming method of plesiosaurs enabled efficient and effective locomotion. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 284 (1861), [20170951]. (doi:10.1098/rspb.2017.0951).
Abstract
The extinct ocean-going plesiosaurs were unique within vertebrates because they used two flipper pairs identical in morphology for propulsion. Although fossils of these Mesozoic marine reptiles have been known for more than two centuries, the function and dynamics of their tandem-flipper propulsion system has always been unclear and controversial. We address this question quantitatively for the first time in this study, reporting a series of precisely-controlled water tank experiments that use reconstructed plesiosaur flippers scaled from well-preserved fossils. Our aim was to determine which limb movements would have resulted in the most efficient and effective propulsion. We show that: Plesiosaur hind flippers generated up to 60% more thrust and 40% higher efficiency when operating in harmony with their forward counterparts, as compared to operating alone, and; The spacing and relative motion between the flippers was critical in governing these increases. The results of our analyses show that this phenomenon was likely present across the whole range of plesiosaur flipper motion and resolves the centuries-old debate about the propulsion style of these marine reptiles, as well as indicating why they retained two pairs of flippers for more than 100 million years.
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- Faculties (pre 2018 reorg) > Faculty of Engineering and the Environment (pre 2018 reorg) > Southampton Marine & Maritime Institute (pre 2018 reorg)
- Faculties (pre 2018 reorg) > Faculty of Engineering and the Environment (pre 2018 reorg) > Aeronautics, Astronautics & Comp. Eng (pre 2018 reorg) > Aerodynamics & Flight Mechanics Group (pre 2018 reorg)
Current Faculties > Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences > School of Engineering > Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering > Aeronautics, Astronautics & Comp. Eng (pre 2018 reorg) > Aerodynamics & Flight Mechanics Group (pre 2018 reorg)
Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering > Aeronautics, Astronautics & Comp. Eng (pre 2018 reorg) > Aerodynamics & Flight Mechanics Group (pre 2018 reorg) - Faculties (pre 2018 reorg) > Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences (pre 2018 reorg) > Ocean and Earth Science (pre 2018 reorg) > Paleooceanography & Palaeoclimate (pre 2018 reorg)
Current Faculties > Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences > School of Ocean and Earth Science > Ocean and Earth Science (pre 2018 reorg) > Paleooceanography & Palaeoclimate (pre 2018 reorg)
School of Ocean and Earth Science > Ocean and Earth Science (pre 2018 reorg) > Paleooceanography & Palaeoclimate (pre 2018 reorg) - Faculties (pre 2018 reorg) > Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences (pre 2018 reorg) > Ocean and Earth Science (pre 2018 reorg)
Current Faculties > Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences > School of Ocean and Earth Science > Ocean and Earth Science (pre 2018 reorg)
School of Ocean and Earth Science > Ocean and Earth Science (pre 2018 reorg) - Faculties (pre 2018 reorg) > Faculty of Engineering and the Environment (pre 2018 reorg) > Civil Maritime & Env. Eng & Sci Unit (pre 2018 reorg) > Fluid Structure Interactions Group (pre 2018 reorg)
Current Faculties > Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences > School of Engineering > Civil, Maritime and Environmental Engineering > Civil Maritime & Env. Eng & Sci Unit (pre 2018 reorg) > Fluid Structure Interactions Group (pre 2018 reorg)
Civil, Maritime and Environmental Engineering > Civil Maritime & Env. Eng & Sci Unit (pre 2018 reorg) > Fluid Structure Interactions Group (pre 2018 reorg)
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