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The flipper of cetacean — dolphins , porpoises , and whale — come in different forms to fit the swim needs of each coinage . But how , exactly , do the limbs execute in the water system ?
To find out , Paul W. Weber , his alum advisor Laurens E. Howle of Duke University in Durham , North Carolina , and two colleague conducted the first - ever relative hydrodynamic depth psychology of cetacean flippers . The team made CT scans of the flippers of seven of the smaller species , take from dead , stranded animate being or museum collections , then made three - dimensional scale models ground on the scans . They tested the model in a water tunnel to compare their hydrodynamic characteristics .
Bottlenose dolphin mother and calf in an undated photo.
The flipper all show rhytidoplasty ( upward force ) and drag ( rear military unit ) corresponding to organise hydrofoils , the team feel .
That ’s slightly await , say Howle : surfboard rudder and other marinedesignslook a lot like flippers . More surprising was that flippers with aggressively backwards - swept edge , such as those of the Atlantic ashen - sided mahimahi , parade the same unusually advanced rise place as triangular - winged aircraft , such as the Concorde and some military plane .
The researchers also notice that slow swimmers , such as the Amazon River dolphin , have relatively broad triangular flippers that aid maneuvering in complex river – flood plain systems . Open - ocean swimmer such as the bottlenose dolphin have relatively small flippers for their body sizing , which , the water supply - burrow tests support , ameliorate stability while plowing through waves and current at high pep pill .
The research was detail in the Journal of Experimental Biology .
This clause was provided to LiveScience byNatural History Magazine .
