Re: Velociraptor profiles and a little background

[Waylon Rowley <whte_rbt_obj@yahoo.com>]

David Marjanovic wrote:

> I think these are 2 examples of how a sophisticated
> control of wing positions might arise... but not 
> flapping. To get slower by flapping, BTW, requires 
> (I assume) pretty sophisticated flapping and not 
> just any sort of waving one's wings around.

Maybe instead they were performing a series of short
dives during gliding. They would fall a short
distance, angle their wings so that they moved up, and
then repeat that process (somewhat "stalling" in
mid-air). So the angle of the leading edge of each
wing is pointing anterodorsal, then switched back to
horizontal or anteroventral (relative to the axial
column). I can imagine a figure-8  flight stroke
evolving from something like this. Hard to say *why*
they would do this. It may have given them more time
to "zero-in" on their target, or kept them from
reaching the ground at a more than safe speed.
Personally I think this idea is more plausible than
the alternatives. I'm not sure if you're playing
devil's advocate, or if you have a different
viewpoint. If the latter is the case I would be
interested in knowing how you believe flight evolved. 
 

Cheers,
Waylon Rowley


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