QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by MACLEOD, G.D. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by MACLEOD, G.D.

Journal of Experimental Biology 87,65-72 (1980)
Published by Company of Biologists 1980

Mechanical Properties of Contour Feathers

G.D. MACLEOD ¹

¹ University of Nottingham, School of Agriculture, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough, LE12 5RD

Young's moduli (E) in bending and extension were measured for selected contour feather shafts from the chicken (Gallus domesticus), turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) and herring gull (Larus argentatus). These were treated mechanically as tapering beams. In extension, E ranged from 45 to 181 MN m^-2 and from 210 to 682 MN m^-2 for the proximal and distal regions, respectively. Values obtained for the same regions in bending were from 5 to 24 MN m^-2 and 457 to 1850 MN m^-2. These results suggested that the cortex of the proximal region generally has a lower Young's modulus than the medulla, while for the distal region this is reversed. This was confirmed by further measurements on treated shafts. The observed systematic differences in the mechanical properties of the proximal and distal parts of contour feather shafts are consistent with their probable mechanical functions.