Jose Iriarte-Diaz

I have a very broad interest in animal locomotion but I am particularly interested in the terrestrial and aerial locomotion of mammals. My research has been focused on three topics: 1) scaling of maximal running speed in mammals and how scaling changes between small and large mammals; 2) gait transitions in small mammals and 3) morphology, bone mechanics and flight performance in bats.

Currently, I am trying to understand how natural changes in body mass might affect flight performance in bats. On a daily basis, some bat species substantially increase their body mass, between 10 to 40%, during foraging. This increase in body mass should, theoretically, impair their flight performance but bats remain agile enough to still capture prey and/or to maneuver in three-dimensional complex environments. To investigate how bats cope with extra loads I am using several approaches, including detailed kinematics, whole-body mechanics and flight behavior during turning and during straight flights in both free-flight and wind tunnel conditions.

Research Interests

cynos

Video of a Lesser Short-nosed fruit bat (Cynopterus brachyotis) making a right 90-degree turn. This video captures only a small portion of the turn. Notice that the bat reorient the body during upstroke and uses the downstroke to change the flight path.

The last version of Flash Player has be installed to play this video. The player can be downloaded here

Publications

Quantifying the complexity of bat wing kinematics
Journal of Theoretical Biology, in press
Riskin DK, Willis DJ, Iriarte-Diaz J, Hedrick TL, Kostandov M, Chian J, Laidlow DH, Breuer KS and Swartz SM

What explains the trot-gallop transition in small mammals? (pdf)
Journal of Experimental Biology, 209 (20): 4061-4066 (2006)
Iriarte-Diaz J, Bozinovic F and Vasquez RA

Direct measurements of the kinematics and dynamics of bat flight (pdf)
Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, 1: S10-S18 (2006)
Tian X, Iriarte-Diaz J, Middleton K, Galvao R, Israeli E, Roemer A, Sullivan A, Song A, Swartz SM and Breuer K

Relative size of hearts and lungs of small bats (pdf)
Acta Chiropterologica, 7 (1): 65-72 (2005)
Canals M, Atala C, Grossi B and Iriarte-Diaz J

Biomechanical and ecological relationships of wing morphology of eight Chilean bats (pdf)
Revista Chilena de Historia Natural, 78 (2): 215-227 (2005)
Canals M, Grossi B, Iriarte-Diaz J and Veloso C

Past and present small mammals of Isla Mocha (Chile) (pdf)
Mammalian biology, 68 (6): 365-371 (2003)
Saavedra B, Quiroz D and Iriarte J

Differential scaling of locomotor performance in small and large terrestrial mammals (pdf)
Journal of Experimental Biology, 205 (18): 2897-2908 (2002)
Iriarte-Diaz J

Biomechanic consequences of differences in wing morphology between Tadarida brasiliensis and Myotis chiloensis (pdf)
Acta Theriologica , 47 (2): 193-200 (2002)
Iriarte-Diaz J, Novoa FF and Canals M

Functional morphology and geographic variation in the digging apparatus of cururos (Octodontidae: Spalacopus cyanus) (pdf)
Journal of Mammalogy , 83 (1): 145-152 (2002)
Bacigalupe LD, Iriarte-Diaz J and Bozinovic F

Comparison of the wing morphology of Tadarida brasiliensis (Chiroptera: Molossidae) and Myotis chiloensis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) as representatives of two flight patterns (pdf)
Revista Chilena de Historia Natural , 74 (3): 699-704 (2001)
Canals M, Iriarte-Diaz J, Olivares R and Novoa, FF

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last updated: June 17, 2008