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."

Comments

fossil

[PresidentEnder]

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.

that's just as good of a guess

[MrFebtober]

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.

Re:that's just as good of a guess

[ElephanTS]

No, evolution does not work that fast. What you're seeing is an image-obssessed society spending and working more on their appearance. I tend to share your opinion - people today are better looking - but it's mainly presentation. But also good lookingness (to get a bit Blue Steel here) is closely tied to evolutionary fitness (healthy=attractive) so perhaps people are generally healthier. Evolution would only have an effect if the least good-looking were not able to breed because of it. Although this may be the case for a small number of men (insert slashdot joke here) I don't think it's going to be evolutionarily significant.

On a similar topic, have you ever noticed people from 50 years ago looked different to people now. I used to think that was due to presentation (ie, fashion, hairstyles, grooming etc) but now I think it's down to dietary differences and developmental factors. People in the UK, increasingly look younger than they used to too due, I suspect, to better living and working conditions.

Re:Unlikely wing design.

[Captain Sensible]

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.