Mesozoic bird flight styles

[Ben Creisler <bscreisler@yahoo.com>]

From: Ben Creisler
bscreisler@hotmail.com
 
New in PLoS One:
 
 
Wang X., McGowan, A.J. & Dyke, G.J. (2011) 
Avian Wing Proportions and Flight Styles: First Step towards Predicting the 
Flight Modes of Mesozoic Birds. 
PLoS ONE 6(12): e28672. 
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0028672
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0028672
 
We investigated the relationship between wing element proportions and flight 
mode in a dataset of living avian species to provide a framework for making 
basic estimates of the range of flight styles evolved by Mesozoic birds. Our 
results show that feather length (fprim) and total arm length (ta) (sum of the 
humerus, ulna and manus length) ratios differ significantly between four flight 
style groups defined and widely used for living birds and as a result are 
predictive for fossils. This was confirmed using multivariate ordination 
analyses, with four wing elements (humerus, ulna/radius, manus, primary 
feathers), that discriminate the four broad flight styles within living birds. 
Among the variables tested, manus length is closely correlated with wing size, 
yet is the poorest predictor for flight style, suggesting that the shape of the 
bones in the hand wing is most important in determining flight style. Wing bone 
thickness (shape) must vary with wing beat
 strength, with weaker forces requiring less bone. Finally, we show that by 
incorporating data from Mesozoic birds, multivariate ordination analyses can be 
used to predict the flight styles of fossils.