I read the article “First Birds Might Have Flown On Four Wings”, by Catherine Harmon from Scientific America. (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=first-birds-might-have-flown-on-four-wings)
As we picture birds they have two wings, now what if they had four? Birdlike dinosaurs such as Microraptor and the famous Archaeopteryx have long feathers on their rear legs, until recently researchers were not sure what these were for. Why these feathers disappeared from the fossil records has yet to be answered. Xing Xu a paleontologist found evidence of leg feathers on eleven basic bird species. On some of these animals the feathers were designed for flight similar to Archaeopteryx.
These finding will help us understand how flight came about and how feathers became what they are today. However, how these rear feathers were used will require further research, it is speculated that they could have been for gliding or for aid in steering. This does not prove that all early birds had four wings as flight could have many origins. Now scales have replaced these leg feathers on most birds. There are of course exceptions to this as with everything in biology. The removing of these leg feathers could have helped these early birds to develop better legs. Only further research and more findings can help to find the answers.
This relates to how we learned about mutations and how most are harmful but some can help species to survive. Also, this relates to how animals are classified as physical such as these feathered hind legs help scientists to class animals based on their fossil records. This article also relates to the theory of evolution and how animals change over time to beat the interspecific and intraspecific competition in is environment. I think that this is a very interesting not well known article as discoveries that pertain to dinosaurs are generally not publicized. Also, this is a good article because once further research is done this could help us answer why birds fly.
This is a sketch of a microraptor with its long rear feathers.
Interesting article Will. My question was after reading your post was why birds evolved out of the extra set of wings. I'm assuming that the extra set became unwieldy and less useful and evolution took its course, as birds today use only one set of wings to fly. The idea of four wings is interesting, as I wonder if there was a purpose to the extra set back when the creatures existed, and why the extra set is no longer necessary.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is interesting how scientists are still finding new species of dinosaurs and how they can see the features of the animal in the fossils. But what I wonder is how some animals evolved into flying birds. I can see how cells developed to the land and sea, but not to the air. It doesn't seem very natural for a reason to take to the skies. But the first flying creatures might of had a predator they had to get away from and developed the extra pair of wings to maneuver or fly faster.
ReplyDeleteI am really intrigued at how ancient birds may have had four wings. I have never heard that theory before and seems odd to me. If you hadn't included the picture, I probably wouldn't have known what such an animal would like look like. I wonder exactly why the birds evolved to have only two wings, probably because the birds became smaller and lighter over time. Overall, really nice post.
ReplyDeleteIt might have been that they first needed the leg wings because their upper wings weren't large enough to support their weight at first. The other thing that microraptors had were tail feathers, which also probably were there to hep with balance and steering. Maybe as wing size increased, the long tail and hind wings slowed the bird down or made it less aerodynamic. Also, they were probably pretty heavy. If you look at a modern bird, it usually has smallish, thinner legs, and no tail, only feathers. Something i wonder about prehistoric birds is whether their bones were hollow like those of modern birds. Maybe that's another product of evolution. This is a good post, with a lot of interesting tie-ins to our biology class.
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ReplyDeleteGood job Will. I agree that this is a very interesting topic. I think it's cool that scientists can tell what these animals looked like from the fossils that they find. I also think that it is cool how this relates to the DNA unit we just finished with the mutations. Overall, good job on the post, this is a very interesting topic to read about.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine that rear wings would be used for aid in flight,like you said in the article. I also think they could help with aerodynamics and/or turn in mid flight. I think it's interesting that some extinct birds might of had four wings, and we are just finding that out now.
ReplyDeleteIt's very intriguing to know that scientists are continuing to find new fossils of dinosaurs. Being able to study the characteristics of that dinosaur just by looking at the fossil must be pretty interesting. Cells developing on land and water are natural, however cells developing in the air strikes me as extraordinary. Perhaps one animal adapted to the air with a particular reason, such as taking to the skies to avoid predators.
ReplyDeleteThis topic interests me a lot because i find it fascinating how species evolve to accomodate different needs. The rear wings could have just eventually not been needed and that is why present day birds do not have them. I have even heard that some humans are born without wisdom teeth anymore because they are not necessary anymore. I like how you related this to mutations that we learned about with DNA because these mutations can be the cause of the lack of the wings. Very imteresting blog post. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very interesting topic because it is not everyday they find a new type of species with four wings. I think that birds might have had four wings because they might have flown long distances, and now they no longer do this they evolved out of it. Lastly, I liked how you related it to DNA mutations we have just finished learning about. Overall I think you did a good job.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting article, Will! Even though dinosaurs are extinct, they are still very informative and fascinating to study. Looking at their fossils can teach us a lot about present day species. My question is why why the second pair of wings were eventually dropped during evolution. Shouldn't two sets of wings make the flight more efficient? Then maybe one set could rest while the other one is working.
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