One price to run, swim or fly?

R. McNeill Alexander
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R. McNeill Alexander: the School of Biology, University of Leeds

Nature, 1999, vol. 397, issue 6721, 651-652

Abstract: It has long been thought that the energetic costs of running are higher than for flying, and that swimming is cheaper than both. But recent estimates for mammals indicate that, weight for weight, these are about the same. Swimming is expensive for semi-aquatic mammals, so they tend to move slowly as a result: over a distance of 50 metres, dolphins swim five times faster than human world-record holders.

Date: 1999
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DOI: 10.1038/17687

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