The avian egg exhibits extraordinary diversity in size, shape and color, and has a key role in avian adaptive radiations. Despite extensive work, our understanding of the underlying principles that guide the “design” of the egg as a load-bearing structure remains incomplete, especially over broad taxonomic scales. Here we define a dimensionless number C, a function of egg weight, stiffness and dimensions, to quantify how stiff an egg is with respect to its weight after removing geometry-induced rigidity. We analyze eggs of 463 bird species in 36 orders across five orders of magnitude in body mass, and find that C number is nearly invariant for most species, including tiny hummingbirds and giant elephant birds. This invariance or “design guideline” dictates that evolutionary changes in shell thickness and Young’s modulus, both contributing to shell stiffness, are constrained by changes in egg weight. Our analysis illuminates unique reproductive strategies of brood parasites, kiwis, and megapodes, and quantifies the loss of safety margin for contact incubation due to artificial selection and environmental toxins. Our approach provides a mechanistic framework for a better understanding of the mechanical design of the avian egg, and may provide clues to the evolutionary origin of contact incubation of amniote eggs.
A new methodology for the speed ratio analysis of epicyclic-type transmission mechanisms is presented. First, the kinematic characteristics associated with various operation modes of fundamental geared entities are investigated. Then, it is shown that the overall speed ratio of an epicyclic gear mechanism can be expressed in terms of its fundamental geared entities. This method leads to an automated derivation of the speed ratio of an epicyclic-type transmission mechanism without the need of a symbolic manipulation software.
This paper presents a methodology for the identification of a most promising clutching sequence associated with an epicyclic-type automatic transmission mechanism. First, a methodology for the analysis of torque distribution on the links of an epicyclic gear mechanism is described. Then, the power loss relations associated with various clutching sequences of an epicyclic gear mechanism are derived. Finally, a procedure for the selection of a most efficient clutching sequence associated with a transmission mechanism is developed.
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