The origin of traveling waves in an emperor penguin huddle
Emperor penguins breed during the Antarctic winter and have to endure temperatures as low as −50 °C and wind speeds of up to 200 km h ^−1 . To conserve energy, they form densely packed huddles with a triangular lattice structure. Video recordings from previous studies revealed coordinated movements...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:67541e000cbd4c9a904cdff52614931c 2023-09-05T13:13:39+02:00 The origin of traveling waves in an emperor penguin huddle R C Gerum B Fabry C Metzner M Beaulieu A Ancel D P Zitterbart 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/15/12/125022 https://doaj.org/article/67541e000cbd4c9a904cdff52614931c EN eng IOP Publishing https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/15/12/125022 https://doaj.org/toc/1367-2630 doi:10.1088/1367-2630/15/12/125022 1367-2630 https://doaj.org/article/67541e000cbd4c9a904cdff52614931c New Journal of Physics, Vol 15, Iss 12, p 125022 (2013) Science Q Physics QC1-999 article 2013 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/15/12/125022 2023-08-13T00:39:44Z Emperor penguins breed during the Antarctic winter and have to endure temperatures as low as −50 °C and wind speeds of up to 200 km h ^−1 . To conserve energy, they form densely packed huddles with a triangular lattice structure. Video recordings from previous studies revealed coordinated movements in regular wave-like patterns within these huddles. It is thought that these waves are triggered by individual penguins that locally disturb the huddle structure, and that the traveling wave serves to remove the lattice defects and restore order. The mechanisms that govern wave propagation are currently unknown, however. Moreover, it is unknown if the waves are always triggered by the same penguin in a huddle. Here, we present a model in which the observed wave patterns emerge from simple rules involving only the interactions between directly neighboring individuals, similar to the interaction rules found in other jammed systems, e.g. between cars in a traffic jam. Our model predicts that a traveling wave can be triggered by a forward step of any individual penguin located within a densely packed huddle. This prediction is confirmed by optical flow velocimetry of the video recordings of emperor penguins in their natural habitat. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Emperor penguins Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Huddle ENVELOPE(-64.983,-64.983,-65.411,-65.411) The Antarctic New Journal of Physics 15 12 125022 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
spellingShingle |
Science Q Physics QC1-999 R C Gerum B Fabry C Metzner M Beaulieu A Ancel D P Zitterbart The origin of traveling waves in an emperor penguin huddle |
topic_facet |
Science Q Physics QC1-999 |
description |
Emperor penguins breed during the Antarctic winter and have to endure temperatures as low as −50 °C and wind speeds of up to 200 km h ^−1 . To conserve energy, they form densely packed huddles with a triangular lattice structure. Video recordings from previous studies revealed coordinated movements in regular wave-like patterns within these huddles. It is thought that these waves are triggered by individual penguins that locally disturb the huddle structure, and that the traveling wave serves to remove the lattice defects and restore order. The mechanisms that govern wave propagation are currently unknown, however. Moreover, it is unknown if the waves are always triggered by the same penguin in a huddle. Here, we present a model in which the observed wave patterns emerge from simple rules involving only the interactions between directly neighboring individuals, similar to the interaction rules found in other jammed systems, e.g. between cars in a traffic jam. Our model predicts that a traveling wave can be triggered by a forward step of any individual penguin located within a densely packed huddle. This prediction is confirmed by optical flow velocimetry of the video recordings of emperor penguins in their natural habitat. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
R C Gerum B Fabry C Metzner M Beaulieu A Ancel D P Zitterbart |
author_facet |
R C Gerum B Fabry C Metzner M Beaulieu A Ancel D P Zitterbart |
author_sort |
R C Gerum |
title |
The origin of traveling waves in an emperor penguin huddle |
title_short |
The origin of traveling waves in an emperor penguin huddle |
title_full |
The origin of traveling waves in an emperor penguin huddle |
title_fullStr |
The origin of traveling waves in an emperor penguin huddle |
title_full_unstemmed |
The origin of traveling waves in an emperor penguin huddle |
title_sort |
origin of traveling waves in an emperor penguin huddle |
publisher |
IOP Publishing |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/15/12/125022 https://doaj.org/article/67541e000cbd4c9a904cdff52614931c |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-64.983,-64.983,-65.411,-65.411) |
geographic |
Antarctic Huddle The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Huddle The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Emperor penguins |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Emperor penguins |
op_source |
New Journal of Physics, Vol 15, Iss 12, p 125022 (2013) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/15/12/125022 https://doaj.org/toc/1367-2630 doi:10.1088/1367-2630/15/12/125022 1367-2630 https://doaj.org/article/67541e000cbd4c9a904cdff52614931c |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/15/12/125022 |
container_title |
New Journal of Physics |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
125022 |
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1776204855543595008 |