RE: bauplan convergence

["Tracy Ford" <tlford@ix.netcom.com>]

>>I've said this before (a long time ago) but: at least some gliding animals
glide simply as a way of getting around.  I have watched gliding lizards
(Draco) in Borneo; they tend to simply sit on a vertical tree trunk, then
dart across to an adjacent tree (for no apparent reason, but I presume to
change stalking perches); the glide is almost horizontal - you can easily
mistake them for butterflies at first glance.<<
Food, bored, or something to do, escape, capture? They just do it.

>>Also in Borneo, I watched a giant flying squirrel (Petaurista) at Danum
Valley, Sabah, in what I gathered was a nightly ritual - emerging from its
roost tree at dusk and, after a few minutes, casually launching into a
glide of 100  feet or so across the river into the forest.  I assume that
gliding enabled it to use the forest but roost in a tree well separated
from it, perhaps for safety.

Anyway, gliders may glide without having either a predator on their tail or
a prey item in their sights.  For a highly-adapted glider, it's simply a
low-cost way to commute.<<

That must have been quite an experience to watch them. I'd like to do that
some day.
Tracy