Evolution of wings

[Barnox]

Hey there.
I'm just trying to be knowledgeable here.
I know antellope and cheetahs run fast, because they need to to survive as their prey/hunter runs faster. Survival of the fittest.

But how did wings 'appear'?
Flight is a very obvious advantage, but I can't currently see a way that, without a final aim, small flaps of skin could grow to eventually become wings.

I can see how it is with flying squirrels. The arm-wings help them glide from tree to tree, allowing them to escape predators and survive.
But how about birds, or flying dinosaurs (wrong term, but I've got school and am in a hurry).

I do believe in evolution, and I'm not trolling, if it comes across that I don't believe wings can come from nowhere. I know they can, but I want to know why.

[Mordeak]

To understand wings, you have to understand that feathers are not 'flaps of skin' but are closer to fur / hair. Scales, feathers and hair evolved from the need to protect the skin from external elements, from predators to climate conditions.

There are also 2 types (could be more. I'm no expert) of feathers. Those meant for flight and those meant for protection.

So evolution of feathers (and thus flight probably) went more or less as follows:

Scales -> protective feathers -> feathers for gliding -> feathers for short distance flight -> feathers as we know them today.

Going to look it up when I have some more time.

[spaniel]

[MaybeNever]

There is a third type of feather in addition to those meant for protection and those meant for flight, and that third type is the feather meant for sweet, sweet love. Some birds have these feathers as a majority, which is where we get the term "lovebird".

[Tiger]

Oct 12, 2009 4:48:54 GMT -5 Barnox said:

I can see how it is with flying squirrels. The arm-wings help them glide from tree to tree, allowing them to escape predators and survive.
But how about birds, or flying dinosaurs (wrong term, but I've got school and am in a hurry).

You've really hit the nail on the head. Bats, which are capable of flight, evolved from an organism that was probably similar to a flying squirrel. Birds likely evolved from a similar type of creature, whose arms had been modified for gliding. Over time, those structures became better and better at their function, until they were able to generate lift all on their own and allow sustained flight. Here's a fairly good description of all the intermediate steps a species goes through in the evolution of wings.

[Random Guy]

Some thoughts from your resident paleontology student:

Actually, it is still somewhat of a mystery exactly how wings evolved. Feathers were present in quite a few dinosaur groups before flight itself developed, likely for insulation and display, but there is still debate over the origins of flight. The two major viewpoints are "Trees-down" versus "ground-up".

The "trees-down" view argues that birds are descended from arboreal dinosaurs that used primitive flight to get from tree to tree and descend to the ground safely. Some dinosaurs with long arms and grasping hands are known that would make good climbers, Epidexipteryx being one.

"Ground-up" advocates suggest that flight developed in ground-running dinosaus like Velociraptor, which would have used their feathers to provide lift when pursuing insects and for assistance in escaping predators.

It should also be noted that some "protobird" dinosaurs, specifically Anchiornis and Microraptor, have flight feathers preserved on both their arms and legs, suggesting that a four-winged stage may have preceded the two-winged version of flight seen in modern birds. However, the idea that these dinosaurs glided with their legs splayed out to the side like flying squirrels are almost certainly incorrect, as dinosaurian hips do not permit the legs to spread out that far.