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Aerodynamics Show Membrane-Winged Theropods Were a Poor Gliding Dead-end.


ABSTRACT: The bizarre scansoriopterygid theropods Yi and Ambopteryx had skin stretched between elongate fingers that form a potential membranous wing. This wing is thought to have been used in aerial locomotion, but this has never been tested. Using laser-stimulated fluorescence imaging, we re-evaluate their anatomy and perform aerodynamic calculations covering flight potential, other wing-based behaviors, and gliding capabilities. We find that Yi and Ambopteryx were likely arboreal, highly unlikely to have any form of powered flight, and had significant deficiencies in flapping-based locomotion and limited gliding abilities. Our results show that Scansoriopterygidae are not models for the early evolution of bird flight, and their structurally distinct wings differed greatly from contemporaneous paravians, supporting multiple independent origins of flight. We propose that Scansoriopterygidae represents a unique but failed flight architecture of non-avialan theropods and that the evolutionary race to capture vertebrate aerial morphospace in the Middle to Late Jurassic was dynamic and complex.

SUBMITTER: Dececchi TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7756141 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Aerodynamics Show Membrane-Winged Theropods Were a Poor Gliding Dead-end.

Dececchi T Alexander TA   Roy Arindam A   Pittman Michael M   Kaye Thomas G TG   Xu Xing X   Habib Michael B MB   Larsson Hans C E HCE   Wang Xiaoli X   Zheng Xiaoting X  

iScience 20201022 12


The bizarre scansoriopterygid theropods <i>Yi</i> and <i>Ambopteryx</i> had skin stretched between elongate fingers that form a potential membranous wing. This wing is thought to have been used in aerial locomotion, but this has never been tested. Using laser-stimulated fluorescence imaging, we re-evaluate their anatomy and perform aerodynamic calculations covering flight potential, other wing-based behaviors, and gliding capabilities. We find that <i>Yi</i> and <i>Ambopteryx</i> were likely arb  ...[more]

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