Tags

Type your tag names separated by a space and hit enter

Narrow primary feather rachises in Confuciusornis and Archaeopteryx suggest poor flight ability.
Science. 2010 May 14; 328(5980):887-9.Sci

Abstract

The fossil birds Archaeopteryx and Confuciusornis had feathered wings resembling those of living birds, but their flight capabilities remain uncertain. Analysis of the rachises of their primary feathers shows that the rachises were much thinner and weaker than those of modern birds, and thus the birds were not capable of flight. Only if the primary feather rachises were solid in cross-section (the strongest structural configuration), and not hollow as in living birds, would flight have been possible. Hence, if Archaeopteryx and Confuciusornis were flapping flyers, they must have had a feather structure that was fundamentally different from that of living birds. Alternatively, if they were only gliders, then the flapping wing stroke must have appeared after the divergence of Confuciusornis, likely within the enantiornithine or ornithurine radiations.

Links

Aggregator Full Text
Publisher Full Text
sciencemag.org
sciencemag.org

Authors+Show Affiliations

Nudds RL
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, UK. robert.nudds@manchester.ac.uk
Dyke GJ
No affiliation info available

MeSH

AnimalsBiomechanical PhenomenaBirdsFeathersFlight, AnimalFossilsWings, Animal

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article

Language

eng

PubMed ID

20466930

Citation

Nudds, Robert L., and Gareth J. Dyke. "Narrow Primary Feather Rachises in Confuciusornis and Archaeopteryx Suggest Poor Flight Ability." Science (New York, N.Y.), vol. 328, no. 5980, 2010, pp. 887-9.
Nudds RL, Dyke GJ. Narrow primary feather rachises in Confuciusornis and Archaeopteryx suggest poor flight ability. Science. 2010;328(5980):887-9.
Nudds, R. L., & Dyke, G. J. (2010). Narrow primary feather rachises in Confuciusornis and Archaeopteryx suggest poor flight ability. Science (New York, N.Y.), 328(5980), 887-9. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1188895
Nudds RL, Dyke GJ. Narrow Primary Feather Rachises in Confuciusornis and Archaeopteryx Suggest Poor Flight Ability. Science. 2010 May 14;328(5980):887-9. PubMed PMID: 20466930.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Narrow primary feather rachises in Confuciusornis and Archaeopteryx suggest poor flight ability. AU - Nudds,Robert L, AU - Dyke,Gareth J, PY - 2010/5/15/entrez PY - 2010/5/15/pubmed PY - 2010/5/28/medline SP - 887 EP - 9 JF - Science (New York, N.Y.) JO - Science VL - 328 IS - 5980 N2 - The fossil birds Archaeopteryx and Confuciusornis had feathered wings resembling those of living birds, but their flight capabilities remain uncertain. Analysis of the rachises of their primary feathers shows that the rachises were much thinner and weaker than those of modern birds, and thus the birds were not capable of flight. Only if the primary feather rachises were solid in cross-section (the strongest structural configuration), and not hollow as in living birds, would flight have been possible. Hence, if Archaeopteryx and Confuciusornis were flapping flyers, they must have had a feather structure that was fundamentally different from that of living birds. Alternatively, if they were only gliders, then the flapping wing stroke must have appeared after the divergence of Confuciusornis, likely within the enantiornithine or ornithurine radiations. SN - 1095-9203 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/20466930/Narrow_primary_feather_rachises_in_Confuciusornis_and_Archaeopteryx_suggest_poor_flight_ability_ L2 - https://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=20466930 DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -