Convergence in Gliding Animals: Morphology, Behavior, and Mechanics

Khandelwal, Pranav C.; Ross, Shane D.; Dong, Haibo; Socha, John J.

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-11441-0_13

Fascinating Life Sciences

2023

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-11441-0_13

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Convergence in Gliding Animals: Morphology, Behavior, and Mechanics

Pranav C. Khandelwal

Shane D. Ross

Haibo Dong

et al.

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Cited by 3 publications

References 105 publications

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To glide or to swim? A reinvestigation of the enigmaticWapitisaurus problematicus(Reptilia) from the Early Triassic of British Columbia, Canada

Bastiaans,

Buffa,

Scheyer

2023

R. Soc. open sci.

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Wapitisaurus problematicus was initially described as a member of the Weigeltisauridae, a clade of Late Permian gliding reptiles from Eurasia and Madagascar. However, the poor preservation of the holotype and only known specimen, from the lower Sulphur Mountain Formation at Ganoid Ridge (British Columbia, Canada), raised doubts about this assignment. Here, we redescribe W. problematicus and reassess its systematic position among diapsid reptiles. Comparison with all known weigeltisaurids, as well as contemporaneous reptiles from the Sulphur Mountain Formation, indicates that the taxon instead represents a thalattosauroid thalattosauriform, with noted similarities to Thalattosaurus and Paralonectes . This reidentification restricts weigeltisaurids to the Late Permian, with no occurrence in North America. Wapitisaurus problematicus potentially represents one of the oldest thalattosauriforms and increases our understanding of their diversity and disparity during the late Early and Middle Triassic. The close morphological similarities with later (thalattosauroid) thalattosauriforms and their high abundance in (shallow) marine settings may indicate an earlier invasion of this realm than previously assumed. This parallels observations in early ichthyopterygians with widespread opportunistic trophic niche diversification occurring relatively rapidly after the end-Permian mass extinction event.

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To glide or to swim? A reinvestigation of the enigmaticWapitisaurus problematicus(Reptilia) from the Early Triassic of British Columbia, Canada

Bastiaans,

Buffa,

Scheyer

2023

R. Soc. open sci.

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A Year at the Forefront of Gliding Locomotion

2023

Self Cite

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This review highlights the largely understudied behavior of gliding locomotion, which is exhibited by a diverse range of animals spanning vertebrates and invertebrates, in air and in water. The insights in the literature gained from January 2022 to December 2022 continue to challenge the previously held notion of gliding as a relatively simple form of locomotion. Using advances in field/lab data collection and computation, the highlighted studies cover gliding in animals including seabirds, flying lizards, flying snakes, geckos, dragonflies, damselflies, and dolphins. Altogether, these studies present gliding as a sophisticated behavior resulting from the interdependent aspects of morphology, sensing, environment, and likely selective pressures. This review uses these insights as inspiration to encourage researchers to revisit gliding locomotion, both in the animal's natural habitat and in the laboratory, and to investigate questions spanning gliding biomechanics, ecology, sensing, and the evolution of animal flight.

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Biomechanics and ontogeny of gliding in wingless stick insect nymphs (Extatosoma tiaratum)

Zeng,

Naing,

et al. 2024

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Many wingless arboreal arthropods can glide back to tree trunks following free falls. However, little is known about the behaviors and aerodynamics underlying such aerial performance, and how this may be influenced by body size. Here, we studied gliding performance by nymphs of the stick insect Extatosoma tiaratum, focusing on the dynamics of J-shaped trajectories and how gliding capability changes during ontogeny. After being dropped 40 cm horizontally from a visual target, the first-instar nymphs landed on the target within 1.1 s. After reaching terminal speed (at ∼0.25 s), they initiated gliding with significant horizontal force, during which the overall lift-to-drag ratio increased from 0.16 to 0.48. This transition from parachuting to gliding is characterized by a damped oscillation in body pitch, initiated with a rapid nose-down pitching and led to a higher-lift configuration with reduced body angle of attack. Among instars, increasing wing loading during ontogeny led to greater terminal speed, reduced agility during glide initiation and increased glide angle. Our study demonstrates that a sequence of controlled behaviors, from pre-glide descent, glide initiation and forward gliding underlies their gliding aerodynamics, which in aggregate form the basis for J-shaped aerial trajectories. Selection for improved gliding performance in wingless arthropods may foster the evolution of more rapid maneuvers and of dedicated morphological traits (such as winglets) that contribute to an overall reduction in wing loading, either across ontogeny or during the evolution of larger body size.

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Convergence in Gliding Animals: Morphology, Behavior, and Mechanics

Cited by 3 publications

References 105 publications

To glide or to swim? A reinvestigation of the enigmaticWapitisaurus problematicus(Reptilia) from the Early Triassic of British Columbia, Canada

To glide or to swim? A reinvestigation of the enigmaticWapitisaurus problematicus(Reptilia) from the Early Triassic of British Columbia, Canada

A Year at the Forefront of Gliding Locomotion

Biomechanics and ontogeny of gliding in wingless stick insect nymphs (Extatosoma tiaratum)

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