Modern birds capable of flight all have a specialized wing structure called the propatagium without which they could not fly. The evolutionary origin of this structure has remained a mystery, but new ...

Bats are incredibly diverse animals: They can climb onto other animals to drink their blood, pluck insects from leaves or hover to drink nectar from tropical flowers, all of which require distinctive ...

There are many hypotheses explaining the diversity of colours and patterns found in nature, but they are often difficult to examine empirically. Recent studies show the dark upperside of gliding birds ...

Bird physiology is conducive to flight: small size, hollow bones, and generally symmetrical feathers on the wings and tail. It seems like a no-brainer that bird evolution was optimized for flight, but ...

Bird wing shape -- a proxy for long-distance flying ability, or dispersal -- is a trait that influences biodiversity patterns on islands around the world, according to biologists. You can know a lot ...

Even the giant wings of the albatross are not "optimally" shaped for their extraordinary long-distance migrations, according to new University of Bristol research. The study, published in Nature ...

Even the giant wings of the albatross are not ‘optimally’ shaped for their extraordinary long-distance migrations, according to new University of Bristol research. The study, published in Nature ...

$${\bf{F}}=\frac{{\rm{d}}(m{\bf{v}})}{{\rm{d}}t}$$ Fig. 4: Evolution selects for both pitch stability and instability, but modern birds exhibit highly variable pitch agility and stability ...