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Ancient Reptile Had Wings Like a Fighter Jet
anthemaniac writes "A reptile that lived 225 million years ago had triangular-shaped wings like the delta-wings of some jets. At least that's what a new computer model suggests. Researcher have generated several possible shapes for the wings of Sharovipteryx mirabili before, so this is just the latest guess (based on one fossil). Last fall NatGeo reported that the first biplane configuration was on a dinosaur. Maybe airplane designers should delve into the fossil record a little more."
There's a red-tail hawk that hangs out over (or lives in) our office complex. Whenever I'm at the airport, I'm always struck by how similar his wingtips are to those on the CRJ-700.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
We know this animal from a single fossil; why do we think it flew? Not trying to troll, but the bone structure evident in that illustration looks perfectly suitable as a land animal, and kinda iffy as a flyer.
I used to carry a bottle of whiskey for snake bite. And two snakes. -Nefarious Wheel
Agree. I would find far more feasible a wing design were a membrane connects all limbs, the body and the tail, just like a comet.
It would match the upright flight attitude mentioned on TFA, although it wouldn't be what we could call a smooth glide.
However, neither configuration would be as efficient as the wings of a bat, which probably lead to their extintion or evolution into a different design anyway.
I think he meant more like this Red Tail hawk demonstrating a sort of winglet which provides a small aerodynamic advantage. However the hawk's adaptation may have been more of a stealth improvement (quiet when approaching prey) but efficiency and stealth may have been a mutual benefit in this adaptation.
Ever considered the possibility that looking cool would be an evolutinary advantage?
Sexual display often drives evolution. The brighter the feathers, the bigger the tusks, the stinkier the stink gland, it can all lead to natural selection. If that's what you meant by "cool," then you may have something there. In this case, it could be that the bigger the rear-leg skin flaps, the more attractive to the female. Lots of birds have huge feathers that are only for display. In some cases they make flight impossible, but display takes priority. Any reason why that couldn't be what's going on here?
crap, I just contradicted my other post.
It's not all that silly.
If some crazy looking bird like you'd never seen before swooped down on you, you'd probably freak out and be at an evolutionary disadvantage.
So yeah, as long as looking "cool" means looking unique and surprising.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
Looking at the fossil then at the wing configurations IMO (b) appears to be more likely, ie. bat-like. I reckon 'delta wing fighter-like' is nothing more than a case of wishful thinking so these paleontologists can drum up some media attention.
>I would find that a true delta configuration would be
>unlikely as there would be little evolutionary advantage
>to developing an inherently less stable "wing" configuration
>for the low speed flying that this creature would be doing.
Probably, but not necessarily. Such wing configurations also allow much wider ranges of angle of attack/higher stall angles. I can see that being useful if you are trying to fly around in a forest.
Brett
The writer of this comment seems to be unaware that delta wings:
1 - predate supersonic flight
2 - predate jet engines.
During the 1920s and 1930 a large number of delta wing propeller-driven aircraft were designed. The most prolific designer was Hill of Westland-Hill (UK) whose series of Pterodactyl fighters is well-known by European aircraft designers. A number of German manufacturers also built delta-wing prop-driven aircraft.
Deltas provide a stable wing platform and have benefits in having low stall speeds. The drag they generate, however, combined with the low-power engines of the pre-WWII era, limited their performance. The combination of delta wings with jet engines overcomes the drag issue. Swept wing aircraft tend to "fishtail" in flight but deltas are "hands-off" stable.
A gliding reptile with configurable delta wings on its rear legs, a canard on the front legs and a long tail to provide stabilisation and manouverability would be a very active glider perhaps able to pursue prey in flight.
Furthermore, if one looks at just about any flying creature now or in the past, the leading edge of their "wing" has always been protected by bone, feather or both.
That's not true. The leading edge of a bird's wing is called the patagium, and is simply skin that is stretched from the humerus to the carpal joint. The leading edge of a bat wing is similar, but in bats, all the skin of the wing is referred to as the patagium, while the leading edge is called the propatagium. In either case, the leading edge of the wing is very vulnerable to damage; one of my veterinarian friends, who volunteers at a raptor rehabilitation center, sees many cases where the bird's patagium has been torn (bird vs. cat, bird vs. barbed wire fence, etc), and generally in those cases the bird never flies again. It's actually one of the most vulnerable areas on a bird.