Re: Phylogeny of Maniraptora

["James R. Cunningham" <jrccea@bellsouth.net>]

I think its fair to say that passive gliding is far more aerdynamically
challenging than active flapping.  Biomechanically, I agree with you. 
But evolutionary improvements in an early passive glider would appear to
trend away from the improvements needed by an active flapper.

Tim Williams wrote:
> 
> James R. Cunningham <jrccea@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> 
> >And doesn't this imply that passive gliding is easier to achieve than
> >active flapping?  Is that indeed the case?
> 
> I think it's fair to say that active flapping is far more aerodynamically
> and biomechanically challenging than passive gliding.