The role of vortices in animal locomotion in fluids

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to show the significance of vortices in animal locomotion in fluids on two deliberately chosen examples. The first example concerns lift generation by bird and insect wings, the second example briefly mentiones swimming and walking on water. In all the examples, the vortices generated by the moving animal impart the necessary momentum to the surrounding fluid, the reaction to which is the force moving or lifting the animal.

Keywords

• animal locomotion
• bird flight
• flapping wings
• insect flight
• swimming
• walking on water
• vortices in animal propulsion