tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post7969398368638953446..comments2024-03-23T12:02:36.626-07:00Comments on Mark P. Witton's Blog: The weird, awesome, and weirdly awesome, Triassic hindlimb-glider Sharovipteryx mirabilisMark Wittonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02524696111911168322noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post-76370066781450167532015-10-18T23:56:30.950-07:002015-10-18T23:56:30.950-07:00Aeronautically, it seems odd to put delta wings on...Aeronautically, it seems odd to put delta wings on a gliding creature. I strongly suspect that it was a fairly unswept wing, simply because deltas are actually not very efficient at low Reynold's number and mach. For practical purposes, the mach number of any flying animal but a nosediving azhdarchid would be essentially zero. Even extremely optimistic estimates for azhdarchids full of dinner diving with wings folded in from obscene altitudes put them safely below the transonic drag regime at 5000 meters and under.Pds3.14https://www.blogger.com/profile/01042151103642336762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post-57047622121632184222015-04-11T07:15:45.912-07:002015-04-11T07:15:45.912-07:00Mark you go to such lengths to avoid the literatur...Mark you go to such lengths to avoid the literature and online resources for Sharovipteryx as a biped and as a relative not only to pterosaurs but to Cosesaurus, Kyrgzysaurus and Longisquama (its contemporary). If you have issues with the controversial bone identifications, ignore them. Use what everyone agrees to. You'll know which clade Sharovipteryx belongs to when you simply compare its feet to those of all other reptiles. You did not mention the elongate pelvis and extended sacrum (way more than two sacrals there). Also common to this clade, as are the attenuated tail and extra dermal membranes. Nice looking art though. D.P.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13009843520057633239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post-16630517888453222542015-04-10T04:29:25.399-07:002015-04-10T04:29:25.399-07:00I know of a couple of pterosaur workers who've...I know of a couple of pterosaur workers who've compared azhdarchid planforms to delta wings in the past. I'm not sure I share that view because the wing may have been quite tapered towards the leg, at least based on what we see in pterosaur wing membrane fossils, preventing them from attaining a truly triangular shape. Plus, the front-heaviness of pterosaurs likely necessitated slightly more anteriorly-swept wings than most illustrations show, moving pterosaurs even further from delta-wing-like planforms.Mark Wittonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02524696111911168322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post-60929734399745443212015-04-09T21:59:12.546-07:002015-04-09T21:59:12.546-07:00"Perhaps instead of viewing Sharovipteryx as ..."Perhaps instead of viewing Sharovipteryx as an evolutionary oddball, we might wonder why more animals have not attained similar anatomies." Would you consider azhdarchids to be something of a convergence? Sure, they were powered flyers and their flight surfaces were attached to the forelimbs, but they seem somewhat front-heavy at first glance, and approximate that delta-wing shape to my mind.<br /><br />Also, on an unrelated note, I saw this and immediately thought you might like to spread it around. Nothing beats a good meme-worthy image for getting the word out.<br />http://hyrotrioskjan.deviantart.com/art/Skimming-No-thanks-491614700Andrew Raymond Stückhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12080621275951453768noreply@blogger.com