Question

Schmidt-Nielson calculated the swimming cost in a mallard duck and found it was nearly 20 times as high as the swimming cost in a salmon of the same body mass. What could explain the greater swimming efficiency of salmon?

Short answer

Salmon are superior swimmers than the mallard duck because they have a streamlined physique and are generally more adapted to swimming.

Step-by-step solution

Swimming in fishes

Swimming occurs in a variety of ways. Many insects and four-legged vertebrates utilise their legs as oars to propel themselves through the water. Sharks and bony fish move their bodies and tails from side to side, but whales and dolphins move by undulating their bodies and tails up and down.

Energy Costs of Locomotion in a graph

On a single graph with logarithmic (log) axes, Schmidt-Nielsen plotted the cost of running, flying, and swimming on body mass.Then, for each form of movement, he built a best-fit linear graph through the data sets.

Scientists will study the combined results of the research and evaluate the justification for showing the experimental data on a graph with logarithmic scales in this activity.

Salmon have greater swimming efficiency than a mallard duck

Schmidt-Nielson computed the swimming price of a mallard duck and discovered that it was roughly 20 times that of a salmon of the same body mass.Salmon are more efficient swimmers because they have streamlined bodies and are generally better adapted for swimming.

The presence of a streamlined body form is helpful for their survival. For salmon, streamlined bodies allow them to swim through the water with the least amount of resistance.