RE: Origin of flight

[Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

Nick Page wrote:

> A few months ago I was sitting in my garden when I noticed what I took to 
> be a rather dimwitted bird catching insects off the lower leaves of a 
> shrub.
[snip]
> I then thought that a reptile with proto winglike forelimbs could do the 
> same job.
>
> The more efficient jumpers and flappers would be at an evolutionary 
> advantage and get the most insects.

I wondered about this some time ago...

http://dml.cmnh.org/2003Apr/msg00446.html

The idea is basically a spin-off of John Ostrom's 1970's hypothesis of 
pro-avians using their proto-wings and jaws to catch flying insects.  The 
big difference is that the insect-catching proto-bird presumably doesn't 
have to work as hard, because the intended prey is sitting on a leaf, not 
flying in the air.  So it's essentially a difference between aerial hawking 
and foliage-gleaning as the incipient flight behavior.

Cheers

Tim

_________________________________________________________________
Can you find the hidden words?  Take a break and play Seekadoo! 
http://club.live.com/seekadoo.aspx?icid=seek_hotmailtextlink1