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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."
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.
....... unlikely in this creature.
The whole reason that flight engineers started adopting the delta wing configuration is that it allowed the shockwave for supersonic flight to be better controlled flight by moving the leading edge of the wing back behind the terminus. This is great for high speed flight, but miserable for low speed flight as it requires very high stall speeds that would be
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. To have an unprotected membrane as the leading edge of the "wing" that could be easily damaged would be devastating to the aerodynamic properties and the overall fitness of the organism. From these reasons, I would be much more likely to believe the first alternative reconstruction of Sharovipteryx mirabilis where the membranes could be protected and even gathered up when not in use, a function that would not be possible with standard articulation of the bones as presented in the figures of Dykes representation.
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A reptile that lived 225 million years ago had triangular-shaped wings
You mean "6,000 years ago an all-powerful sky-wizard designed a miraculous flying beast and a mate for travel on Noah's Ark."
Trolling is a art,
We need to stop looking at ancient fossils, we need to go and ask the only living relative of this creature just what they were for and how they looked.
This reptile was clearly the ancestor of MC Hammer.
Back in reality now (after a cold shower) some Bats have practically identical skin flaps between their legs even nowadays.
As for diving into the fossil records, we should be trying to model our aircraft on living birds and bats and insects, at least then we don't need a computer to guess how it should work. I would rather put my trust into something when there are plenty of study models to base a design from, not a single sample guestimate.
We can already soar like an eagle perhaps we need the manoeuvrability of a bat for urban airports?
liqbase
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
"What do the latest simulations look like?"
"The computer suggests that the bird had 'fighter plane'-like wings..."
"Let me see that hardcopy!"
"...WTF? A concorde-type nose? Who the **** has been messing with my simulation-apps again? ****ing undergrads!"
Is this some sort of religiously inspired ID nonsense?
You know, I have come up with the perfect compromise for the creationists. We scientists will gladly start using "might have evolved" and "may have lived millions of years ago" if you will change the Bible to say "Moses may have parted the red sea" and "God could have said 'let there be light'".
Unpleasantries.
A reptile that lived 225 million years ago had triangular-shaped wings like the delta-wings of some jets.
No, some jets have delta-wings like reptiles that lived 225 million years ago.
Seems like a bad idea if you ask me, because last I checked they all died. Its probably also why nobody has made a machine based off the dodo. Stupid dodos.
I don't even want to speculate about the missiles.
Yeah, but the lizard failed to file for a patent and thus lost its right to claim the original design.
Mmmm.. Donuts
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.
Considering that most dinosaurs were herbivores and ate a lot of beans and grass, not only did they have delta-wings of some jets, they probably had jet exhaust engines aswell :).
John Carmack fan, browsing at +5 since 1999.
(It could equally well have been a freak one-off mutation that was wholly incapable of propogating further. Given the low probability of fossilization that would seem unlikely, but given the very high number of fossil collectors, if such an animal did fossilize, it would likely be found sooner or later.)
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
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.