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The wing of Archaeopteryx as a primary thrust generator

Nature volume 399, pages 60–62 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

Since the late 1800s, the debate on the origin of flight in birds has centred around two antagonistic theories: the arboreal (take-off from trees) and cursorial (take-off from running) models1,2,3,4,5,6. Despite broad acceptance of the idea that birds evolved from bipedal and predominantly terrestrial maniraptoriform dinosaurs1,7, the cursorial model of flight origins has been less successful than the arboreal model. Three issues have contributed to this lack of success: the gap between the estimated maximum running speed of Archaeopteryx (2 metres per second) and its estimated minimum flying speed (6 metres per second)8; the high energy demands of evolving flight against gravity2,3; and the problem of explaining the origin of the ‘flight’ stroke in an earthbound organism3,4. Here we analyse the take-off run of Archaeopteryx through lift-off from an aerodynamic perspective, and emphasize the importance of combining functional and aerodynamic considerations with those of phylogeny1,9,10. Our calculations provide a solution to the ‘velocity gap’ problem and shed light on how a running Archaeopteryx (or its cursorial maniraptoriform ancestors) could have achieved the velocity necessary to become airborne by flapping feathered wings.

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Figure 1: Vectorial representation (not to scale) of thrust generation and aeroelastic response at low running speeds (bold symbols represent vectors).
Figure 2: Net forces on Archaeopteryx throughout its modelled take-off run.
Figure 3: Progression of residual lift and net thrust throughout the modelled take-off run of Archaeopteryx .

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to H. Bertsch, A. Brush, A. Gaunt, P. MacCready, K. Padian, J.Ostrom, G. Spedding, and M. Warner for discussions, to P. Rollings for the illustrations and to S. Orell for editorial assistance. J. M. V. Rayner provided insightful comments on the earlier versions of the manuscript. Support provided by the Frank M. Chapman Memorial Fund of the American Museum of Natural History.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. San Diego Natural History Museum, PO Box 121390, San Diego, 92112, California, USA

    Phillip Burgers

  2. Vertebrate Paleontology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, 90007, California, USA

    Luis M. Chiappe

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Burgers, P., Chiappe, L. The wing of Archaeopteryx as a primary thrust generator. Nature 399, 60–62 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/19967

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