Seal and Sea lion Whiskers Detect Slips of Vortices Similar as Rats Sense Textures
Seal and Sea lion Whiskers Detect Slips of Vortices Similar as Rats Sense Textures
复制标题
DOI：
10.1038/s41598-019-49243-5
复制
发表时间：
2019-09-05
影响因子：
4.6
通讯作者：
Bruecker, Christoph
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Muthuramalingam, Muthukumar;Bruecker, Christoph
像海豹和海狮这样的鳍足类动物在黑暗和浑浊的环境中用胡须捕食猎物。目前还没有理论模型或假说来解释胡须和水动力鱼迹之间的相互作用。然而，目前的研究，提供了一个理论和实验的深入了解斯特劳哈尔频率从冯-卡门涡街，类似于倒置的水动力鱼迹的检测背后的机制。在此，研究了3D打印海狮头部周围的流动，该头部具有与真实的海豹狮子相当的几何形状和材料特性的集成胡须，当暴露于圆柱形海崖体产生的涡列时。胡须响应的漩涡与急动的运动，类似于粘滑响应的大鼠胡须，这种运动被发现是高斯函数的时间导数。与位移响应相比，触须响应的时间导数解码了Von-Karman尾流的Strouhal频率，这提高了噪声环境中的传感效率。本研究假设触须弯曲力矩的时间导数是可用作鳍足类神经系统输入的最佳物理变量。
Pinnipeds like seals and sea lions use their whiskers to hunt their prey in dark and turbid situations. There is currently no theoretical model or hypothesis to explain the interaction between whiskers and hydrodynamic fish trails. The current study, however, provides a theoretical and experimental insight into the mechanism behind the detection of the Strouhal frequency from a Von-Karman vortex street, similar to that of the inverted hydrodynamic fish trail. Herein the flow around a 3D printed sea lion head, with integrated whiskers of comparable geometry and material properties to a real seal lion, is investigated when exposed to vortex streets generated by cylindrical bluff bodies. The whiskers respond to the vortices with a jerky motion, analogous to the stick-slip response of rat whiskers; this motion is found to be the time derivative of the Gaussian function. Compared to the displacement response, the time-derivative of the whisker response decodes the Strouhal frequency of the Von-Karman wake, which improves the sensing efficiency in noisy environments. The study hypothesizes that the time derivative of the whisker bending moment is the best physical variable that can be used as the input to the pinnipeds neural system.