Table 1 Reynolds numbers exhibited by various organisms (after [19])
From: Advances in biodiversity: metagenomics and the unveiling of biological dark matter
Organism, moving in fluid medium | Reynolds number |
|---|---|
A large whale, swimming at 10 m/s | 300,000,000 |
A tuna also swimming at 10 m/s | 30,000,000 |
A duck, flying at 20 m/s | 300,000 |
A large dragonfly, going 7 m/s | 30,000 |
A copepod in a speed burst of 0.2 m/s | 300 |
Flapping wings of the smallest flying insects | 30 |
An invertebrate larva, 0.3 mm long, at 1 mm/s | 0.3 |
A sea urchin sperm at 0.2 mm/s | 0.03 |
A bacterium, “swimming” at 0.01 mm/s | 0.00001 |