Illustration and photograph courtesy Nick Longrich
A well-preserved fossil specimen of Archaeopteryx,
the earliest known bird (left), is housed in the Museum of Natural
History in Berlin, Germany. The fossil imprint shows feathers along all
four limbs and the animal's long tail.
New analysis of the fossil and others suggests that the dino-era species used both forelimbs and hind limbs to glide, as seen in this reconstruction (right). The study supports the theory that birds first took to the skies by gliding from trees.
The fossils were re-examined by paleontologist Nick Longrich from the University of Calgary in Canada, who found that the flying dinosaur's leg feathers have an aerodynamic structure and likely acted as lift-generating "winglets."
Longrich said that his research "puts forward some of the strongest evidence yet that birds descended from arboreal parachuters and gliders, similar to modern flying squirrels."
The study supports the "tree down" theory for the origins of avian flight.
This theory suggests that the immediate ancestors of birds were tree-dwelling dinosaurs that developed the ability to glide and paved the way for self-propelled flight.
The competing "ground up" hypothesis argues that species of terrestrial dinosaurs gave rise to birds by running at high speeds and evolving rudimentary wings that lifted them off the ground.
New analysis of the fossil and others suggests that the dino-era species used both forelimbs and hind limbs to glide, as seen in this reconstruction (right). The study supports the theory that birds first took to the skies by gliding from trees.
The fossils were re-examined by paleontologist Nick Longrich from the University of Calgary in Canada, who found that the flying dinosaur's leg feathers have an aerodynamic structure and likely acted as lift-generating "winglets."
Longrich said that his research "puts forward some of the strongest evidence yet that birds descended from arboreal parachuters and gliders, similar to modern flying squirrels."
The study supports the "tree down" theory for the origins of avian flight.
This theory suggests that the immediate ancestors of birds were tree-dwelling dinosaurs that developed the ability to glide and paved the way for self-propelled flight.
The competing "ground up" hypothesis argues that species of terrestrial dinosaurs gave rise to birds by running at high speeds and evolving rudimentary wings that lifted them off the ground.
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