Bat wing-like membranes that change their shape in response to the prevailing wind conditions have been tested in-flight, taking them a step closer to use in Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs). The membranes ...

Figure 4: Unique expression of Fgf10 at the domain where future wing membranes develop. For the evolution of the flight apparatus in bats, we suppose that a two-step developmental mechanism was ...

They can climb onto other animals to drink their blood, pluck insects from leaves or hover to drink nectar from tropical flowers, all of which require distinctive wing designs.

Graduate student Joseph Bahlman built a 3-D printed robotic bat wing based on the lesser dog-faced fruit bat, and tested it last year. This wing included an elastic membrane stretched over plastic ...

For example, Bahlman told NBC News he wanted to compare a stretchy membrane like a live bat wing with a non-stretchy material. He suspects the stretchy skin of bat wings enhances flight performance.

A new 3-D printed robotic bat wing can emulate the flapping motion of a real bat, helping biologists simulate how the mammals fly and helping aerodynamics researchers study new flapping-wing aircraft.

Making a robotic bat wing requires both biology and engineering. Joseph Bahlman, lead author on the study and a PhD candidate in biology, says he finds himself learning how to be an engineer. And ...

Bats have done something no other mammal ever has: the leathery-winged beasts evolved powered flight thanks to specialized membranes called patagia connecting their limbs and digits to the rest of ...