Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Birdlike dinos had tough time flying | Reduction

Birdlike dinos had tough time flying

United States National Museum Exhibit, Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY
United States National Museum Exhibit, Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY by Smithsonian Institution
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Excerpt:

Some of the first birdlike creatures to emerge during the age of the dinosaurs probably couldn't get their heavy wings to take them off the ground, and they likely opted for gliding over flying, new research shows. Modern flying birds have a single primary layer of easily separated long feathers covered with short ones — a design that helps them overcome drag when taking flight. A new analysis of the fossils of two of their ancestors shows that the arrangement of feathers for primitive birds was quite different. The birdlike dinosaurs Anchiornis huxley and Archaeopteryx lithographica had dense overlapping layers of wing feathers that were likely difficult to separate, the researchers found. Instead of lifting off from the ground, these creatures probably climbed trees and used their wings to glide from a height, the scientists said. Science news from NBCNews.

People:

Nicholas R. Longrich

Overall Sentiment: 0.0248158

Relevance: 0.860431

Jakob Vinther

Overall Sentiment: 0

Relevance: 0.680542

SentimentQuote
0"We now seem to see that feathers evolved initially for insulation," Vinther explained ...
0.0574869"We now seem to see that feathers evolved initially for insulation," Vinther explained in a statement. "More complex vaned or pinnate feathers evolved for display. These display feathers turned out to be excellent membranes that could have been utilized for aerial locomotion, which only very late in bird evolution became what we consider flapping flight."
Sentiment Stats:
  • Number of Quotes: 2
  • Aggregate Sentiment: 0.0574869
  • Mean: 0.02874345
  • Standard Deviation: 0

Anchiornis huxley

Overall Sentiment: 0

Relevance: 0.587292

Alan Boyle

Overall Sentiment: 0

Relevance: 0.510577

Anchiornis

Overall Sentiment: 0.464128

Relevance: 0.48267

penguin

Overall Sentiment: 0.276288

Relevance: 0.37483

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Additional Info:

PrintMedia: Current Biology

Overall Sentiment: 0

Relevance: 0.536027

Organization: Yale

Overall Sentiment: 0

Relevance: 0.461052

Organization: University of Bristol

Overall Sentiment: 0.0109178

Relevance: 0.452982

NaturalDisaster: Hurricane Sandy

Overall Sentiment: -0.417643

Relevance: 0.503393

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