As far as we know birds are probably the most well known creatures who can fly. Also, we are well aware of insects that can fly and even bats who are mammals who can do so. But what other unlikely creatures can also fly? Or what did the first dinosaurs/birds who took to flight look like. Our first candidate on the list would be archaeopteryx. A semi dinosaur, semi bird like creature whose fossils were found in Germany.
Archaeopteryx lived about 150 million years ago. What made archaeopteryx different from modern birds was that archaeopteryx had a bony tail like a lizard. Unlike todays modern day birds who only have tail feathers. No tail. Then archaeopteryx had teeth, something that is completely missing in modern day birds. Archaeopteryx didn't have a beak like modern day birds either. It's beak and skull was merged. It had a jaw like a lizard for instance. Modern birds have beaks. Archaeopteryx is a good example of how the first birds might have looked like. So how did these creatures come to the point that they started flying? Maybe some other currently existing creatures can give us some idea.
Draco the flying lizard, found in South and South - East Asia.
In Southern Asia and South - Eastern Asia there is a lizard called Draco. Draco is a flying lizard who can leap from branch to branch and spread it's flap like skin between the fore and hind legs. Thus making a wing like protrusion to its torso which allows it to glide from branch to branch. Maybe archaeopteryx had a similar approach to flight. The initial mechanism of flight evolved that way. Not only lizards and birds can fly there are others also who have mastered the art of gliding through the air or flight for that reason.
Gliding frog from South - East Asia.
Another flying /gliding creature comes from South - East Asia and that would be the flying/gliding frog. It also has the ability to jump from branch to branch and glide through the air via the flaps between it's toes. Just like Draco it evolved the capacity to glide from branch to branch in the jungles where it lives. Yes the list of unlikely fliers grows. More so then we anticipated. Another candidate joins the list.
Flying squirrel.
The flying squirrel is also an interesting candidate. Just like the frog and lizard from South - East Asia it can also glide from branch to branch. Is this animal perhaps an example of how bats came to the point of flying? The first insectivores that lived in trees in Europe millions of years ago probably had a similar way of evolving flight. Flight in mammals took a very similar path than with other creatures. Yet another creature who could be seen as extremely unlikely joins the list.
Flying/gliding snake
Of course the most bizarre of the lot must be the flying fish from the Pacific. These fishes can leap out of the water and flap it's fins and glide through the air for short distances. One wonders what the first European explorers must have thought when they saw this. Probably thought that the rum was kicking in hard.
Flight is clearly something found in many different species. Not just in birds or insects. A species ( Not individual) evolves flight to be able to survive. If flight is not a prerequisite for survival then it simply does not evolve or ceases to exist within the species. A good example would be birds on an island. For example New Zealand. Many native bird species in NZ can't fly. They lost the ability to fly because there were no predators who posed a threat to them and thus created the need to fly for the species to survive. A good example would be the kiwi bird form New Zealand. Not even feathers on it's body, more like fur.
Kiwi bird from New Zealand can't fly. It doesn't have to fly to survive. In New Zealand there were very little indigenous mammal species. So predators who could threaten the kiwi didn't exist.
In New Zealand the loss of ability to fly is pretty common among many species. For instance even the bat species in New Zealand can't fly. New Zealand only has 2 species of bat and one species of sea lion as native mammals. Both bat species can't fly. The fact that there were no other mammal species who can pose a threat to bats in New Zealand helped the process of losing flight in bats in New Zealand.
Above the greater short tailed bat from New Zealand and the lesser short tailed bat from New Zealand. Both can't fly.
Pages credited for the pictures: Archaeopteryx - the conversation.com, archaeopteryx cast in stone - thoughco.com, flying snake - vtnews.vt.edu, flying frog - za.pinterest.com, flying squirrel - naturettl.com, flying lizard - earthtouchnews.com, lesser short tailed bat - za.pinterest.com, greater short tailed bat - za.pinterest.com, kiwi bird - predatorfreenz.org, flying fish - nwf.org
Uitstekende inisiatief!!
ReplyDeleteGeweldig intetessant.
The amazing effectiveness of parallel evolution to arrive at similar, but yet different workable solutions to adaptation, in my view, can be seen as an indication that macroscopic life on other planets would, in the unlikely event of ever being found, turn out to be similar in appearance in many respects to life forms on earth (which cover an amazing variety of shapes and forms to match against anyhow). I mean to say, alien creatures will most likely have eye-equivalents to sense electromagnetic waves, ear-equivalents to sense sound waves, smell-equivalents to sense chemical signals, etc. However, they may have completely incompatible properties at the biochemical level if start up from this level is of a purely statistical nature. For instance, their proteins (or equivalents) may be mirror images of those found on earth.
ReplyDeleteNature is incredible! Every creature has evolved to fit a specific role in their ecosystem, even if it results in awkward furry birds with no wings...
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