Flight of Mammals: From Terrestrial Limbs to Wings
The evolutionary acquisition of flapping flight in mammals remains one of the unresolved questions of biology. Currently, no consensus as to the morphofunctional steps through which mammals passed to gain the ability to fly by flapping wings has been reac
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Aleksandra A. Panyutina • Leonid P. Korzun Alexander N. Kuznetsov
Flight of Mammals: From Terrestrial Limbs to Wings
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Aleksandra A. Panyutina Department of Morphological Adaptations of Vertebrates Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution Russian Academy of Sciences Moscow Russia Department of Vertebrate Zoology Biological Faculty Moscow State University Moscow Russia
Leonid P. Korzun Department of Vertebrate Zoology Biological Faculty Moscow State University Moscow Russia Alexander N. Kuznetsov Department of Vertebrate Zoology Biological Faculty Moscow State University Moscow Russia
ISBN 978-3-319-08755-9 ISBN 978-3-319-08756-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-08756-6 Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London Library of Congress Control Number: 2014945367 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Foreword
This monograph is devoted to a particularly interesting scientific problem of the origin of flight in mammals. The first gliding mammal, known as Volaticotherium, appeared as early as the Jurassic, approximately 150 Ma. Subsequently, gliding flight emerged independently several times among marsupials, rodents, and colugos. On the contrary, flapping flight in mammals was only dev
