Shifts in stability and control effectiveness during evolution of Paraves support aerial maneuvering hypotheses for flight origin
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Abstract
The capacity for aerial maneuvering was likely a major influence on the evolution of flying animals. Here we evaluate consequences of paravian morphology for aerial performance by quantifying static stability and control effectiveness of physical models for numerous taxa sampled from within the lineage leading to birds (Paraves). Results of aerodynamic testing are mapped phylogenetically to examine how maneuvering characteristics correlate with tail shortening, fore- and hind-wing elaboration, and other morphological features. In the evolution of Paraves we observe shifts from static stability to inherently unstable aerial platforms; control effectiveness also migrated from tails to the forewings. These shifts suggest that some degree of aerodynamic control and and capacity for maneuvering preceded the evolution of strong power stroke. The timing of shifts also suggests features normally considered in light of development of a power stroke may play important roles in control.
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2014. Shifts in stability and control effectiveness during evolution of Paraves support aerial maneuvering hypotheses for flight origin. PeerJ PrePrints 2:e435v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.435v1note This preprint is not peer-reviewed. You may wish to reference the subsequent peer-reviewed version of this article.
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This PeerJ Preprint has also been submitted to PeerJ for peer review (manuscript 2367).
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Competing Interests
There are no competing interests.
Author Contributions
Dennis Evangelista conceived and designed the experiments, performed the experiments, analyzed the data, contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, wrote the paper, prepared figures and/or tables, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Sharlene Cam performed the experiments, wrote the paper, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Tony Huynh performed the experiments, analyzed the data, wrote the paper, prepared figures and/or tables, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Austin Kwong performed the experiments, wrote the paper, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Homayun Mehrabani performed the experiments, wrote the paper, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Kyle Tse performed the experiments, wrote the paper, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Robert Dudley contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, wrote the paper, reviewed drafts of the paper.
Grant Disclosures
The following grant information was disclosed by the authors:
NSF DGE-0903711
Data Deposition
The following information was supplied regarding the deposition of related data:
.stl files of the models and .nex files of the trees are provided as a revision-controlled Bitbucket repository at bitbucket.org/devangel77b/comparative-peerj-supplemental
Funding
DE was supported by an NSF Minority Graduate Research Fellowship, UC Chancellor's Fellowship, and NSF Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) #DGE-0903711. TH was supported by the University of California Museum of Palaeontology (UCMP). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
