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Cited by 81Fluid Dynamics and Heat TransferBiomimetic flight and propulsion mechanismsPhysiological and biochemical adaptations

Wet mammals shake at tuned frequencies to dry

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Dickerson, Andrew K., Mills, Zachary G., Hu, David L.·2012·Journal of The Royal Society Interface
DOI 10.1098/rsif.2012.0429PMC PMC3481573
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Abstract

In cold wet weather, mammals face hypothermia if they cannot dry themselves. By rapidly oscillating their bodies, through a process similar to shivering, furry mammals can dry themselves within seconds. We use high-speed videography and fur particle tracking to characterize the shakes of 33 animals (16 animals species and five dog breeds), ranging over four orders of magnitude in mass from mice to bears. We here report the power law relationship between shaking frequency f and body mass M to be f ∼ M(-0.22), which is close to our prediction of f ∼ M(-0.19) based upon the balance of centrifugal and capillary forces. We also observe a novel role for loose mammalian dermal tissue: by whipping around the body, it increases the speed of drops leaving the animal and the ensuing dryness relative to tight dermal tissue.

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Crossref · 10.1098/rsif.2012.0429

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  • The average feather-shaking frequencies for peafowl train-rattling and covert-rattling displays are above the predicted values for an animal the mass of a peacock shivering and shaking dry, respectively.

    “The average feather-shaking frequencies for peafowl train-rattling and covert-rattling displays are above the predicted values for an animal the mass of a peacock shivering and shaking dry, respectively (Fig 2).”

    From Biomechanics of the Peacock’s Display: How Feather Structure and Resonance Influence Multimodal Signaling (2016) · cites this paper as Dickerson, Mills and Hu 2012

    The Results (§3.1, page unavailable) establish a relationship between mammal body mass and wet-shaking frequency, which could supply a baseline for the citing authors’ comparison. The Discussion (§4.1, page unavailable) mentions shivering only in mice. The source does not predict shivering frequency for an animal of peacock mass or report peafowl display frequencies, so it does not establish that either display exceeds the stated prediction. (LLM, conf=0.78)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Previous research indicates that the frequencies animals use for some types of shaking behaviors are constrained, such that they scale as a power law with variation in body mass across species.

    “Previous research indicates that the frequencies animals use for some types of shaking behaviors are constrained, such that they scale (as a power law) with variation in body mass across species [17, 18].”

    From Biomechanics of the Peacock’s Display: How Feather Structure and Resonance Influence Multimodal Signaling (2016) · cites this paper as [17]

  • The vibration frequency of other behaviors such as shivering and shaking dry scales negatively with body mass across species.

    “The vibration frequency of other behaviors, such as shivering and shaking dry, scales negatively with body mass across species [17–20].”

    From Biomechanics of the Peacock’s Display: How Feather Structure and Resonance Influence Multimodal Signaling (2016) · cites this paper as [17]

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Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. [3]Timacheff S. 2008. Canon EOS digital photography photo workshop. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Publishing Inc [Google Scholar]
  2. [5]Van Rooijen J. 2005. Dust bathing and other comfort behaviours of domestic hens. In Welfare of laying hens in Europe—reports, analyses and conclusions (eds. Martin G., Sambraus H. H., Steiger A.), pp. 110–123 Munich, Germany: Internazionale Gesellschaft für Nutztierhaltung. [Google Scholar]
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Authors
Dickerson, A. K., Mills, Z. G., & Hu, D. L.
Affiliations
Georgia Institute of Technology (US)
Corresponding author
Hu, David L.
ORCID
Venue
Journal of The Royal Society Interface
Publisher
The Royal Society
Published
2012-08-17
Volume
9
Issue
77
Pages
3208-3218
ISSN
  • 1742-5662 (ISSN-L)
  • 1742-5689
DOI
10.1098/rsif.2012.0429
PMC
PMC3481573
OpenAlex
W2110965595
Cited by
81
References
54
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
FWCI
2.85
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Journal of The Royal Society Interface (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Computational Mechanics › Fluid Dynamics and Heat Transfer
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Aerospace Engineering › Biomimetic flight and propulsion mechanisms
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Physiological and biochemical adaptations
Keywords
hypothermia, shaking frequency, body mass scaling, power-law scaling, centrifugal force, capillary forces, dermal tissue
MeSH terms
Animals, Biomechanical Phenomena, Dogs, Energy Metabolism, Mammals, Models, Theoretical, Motor Activity, Shivering, Video Recording, Water, Body Size, Mice

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