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oai:riuma.uma.es:10630/406402026-02-03T10:49:05Zcom_10630_2254col_10630_37953
RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga author Sánchez-Rodríguez, Jesús author Raufaste, Christophe author Argentina, Médéric 2025-11-07T10:10:23Z 2025-11-07T10:10:23Z 2023-09-09 Sánchez-Rodríguez, J., Raufaste, C., & Argentina, M. (2023). Scaling the tail beat frequency and swimming speed in underwater undulatory swimming. Nature Communications, 14(1), 5569. https://hdl.handle.net/10630/40640 10.1038/s41467-023-41368-6 Undulatory swimming is the predominant form of locomotion in aquatic vertebrates. A myriad of animals of different species and sizes oscillate their bodies to propel themselves in aquatic environments with swimming speed scaling as the product of the animal length by the oscillation frequency. Although frequency tuning is the primary means by which a swimmer selects its speed, there is no consensus on the mechanisms involved. In this article, we propose scaling laws for undulatory swimmers that relate oscillation frequency to length by taking into account both the biological characteristics of the muscles and the interaction of the moving swimmer with its environment. Results are supported by an extensive literature review including approximately 1200 individuals of different species, sizes and swimming environments. We highlight a crossover in size around 0.5–1 m. Below this value, the frequency can be tuned between 2–20 Hz due to biological constraints and the interplay between slow and fast muscles. Above this value, the fluid-swimmer interaction must be taken into account and the frequency is inversely proportional to the length of the animal. This approach predicts a maximum swimming speed around 5–10 m.s−1 for large swimmers, consistent with the threshold to prevent bubble cavitation. eng Atribución 4.0 Internacional Peces - Locomoción Locomoción animal Scaling the tail beat frequency and swimming speed in underwater undulatory swimming journal article 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 URL https://riuma.uma.es/bitstreams/846ba33b-1d38-4561-9e01-b01ef61fb966/download File MD5 0c783eb66251600177bce44e29d45b80 2371322 application/pdf s41467-023-41368-6-2.pdf