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https://theconversation.com/marsupials-and-other-mammals-separately-evolved-flight-many-times-and-we-are-finally-learning-how-202152>
"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land on the next tree. Many
groups of mammals seem to have taken this evolutionary advice to heart.
According to our newly published paper in
Science Advances, unrelated animals
may even have used the same blueprints for building their “wings”.
While birds are the undisputed champions of the sky, having mastered flight
during the Jurassic, mammals have actually evolved flight more often than
birds. In fact, as many as seven different groups of mammals living today have
taken to the air independently of each other.
These evolutionary experiments happened in animals scattered all across the
mammalian family tree – including flying squirrels, marsupial possums and the
colugo (cousin of the primates). But they all have something in common. It’s a
special skin structure between their limbs called a patagium, or flight
membrane.
The fact these similar structures have arisen so many times (a process called
convergent evolution) hints that the genetic underpinnings of patagia might
predate flight. Indeed, they could be shared by all mammals, even those living
on the ground.
If this is true, studying patagia can help us to better understand the
incredible adaptability of mammals. We might also discover previously unknown
aspects of human genetics."
“Flying foxes” (fruit bats) are cool too.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
