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Evolution of Flight

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Part of the book series: Zoophysiology ((ZOOPHYSIOLOGY,volume 27))

Abstract

There are two major conflicting hypotheses about the origin of powered flight in vertebrates, the arboreal (“trees-down”) and cursorial (“ground-up”) theories. According to the arboreal theory, powered flight in birds, bats and pterosaurs evolved via gliding in tree-living animals, while the cursorial theory holds that flapping flight in birds evolved in ground-running and jumping animals without a gliding intermediate.

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© 1990 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Norberg, U.M. (1990). Evolution of Flight. In: Vertebrate Flight. Zoophysiology, vol 27. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-83848-4_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-83848-4_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-83850-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-83848-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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