On the Wing

On the Wing PDF Author: Dr. David E. Alexander
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199996776
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
"On the Wing is the first book to take a comprehensive look at the evolution of flight in all four groups of powered flyers: insects, pterosaurs, birds, and bats."--Book jacket.

On the Wing

On the Wing PDF Author: Dr. David E. Alexander
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199996776
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 225

Get Book Here

Book Description
"On the Wing is the first book to take a comprehensive look at the evolution of flight in all four groups of powered flyers: insects, pterosaurs, birds, and bats."--Book jacket.

The Evolution of Flight

The Evolution of Flight PDF Author: Georg Glaeser
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9783319570235
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This book will take you on an exciting journey made up of texts and images. Spectacular, large-scale photographs printed on double pages and accompanied by explanatory texts will arouse the reader’s curiosity about evolution’s accomplishments in the world of flying: from the botanical air fleet (pollen grains, flying seeds...), over flying snakes and fish, to penguins flying underwater and humans rising into the air. Mathematician and passionate animal photographer Georg Glaser has joined forces with the experienced evolutionary biologist Hannes Paulus and the exercise physiologist and flight biophysicist Werner Nachtigall in order to approach this topic with words and pictures in a way that is both generally comprehensible and scientifically sound. Double-page by double-page, the book can be read in any order. Cross-references allow to jump easily from one double-page to another. Aside from the detailed introduction to each chapter, the text passages are usually independent from one another, and they discuss crucial moments in the evolutionary process. The double-pages provide additional information on bibliographical references and references to informative websites.

Taking Wing

Taking Wing PDF Author: Pat Shipman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0684849658
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
In 1861, just a few years after the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, a scientist named Hermann von Meyer made an amazing discovery. Hidden in the Bavarian region of Germany was a fossil skeleton so exquisitely preserved that its wings and feathers were as obvious as its reptilian jaws and tail. This transitional creature offered tangible proof of Darwin's theory of evolution. Hailed as the First Bird, Archaeopteryx has remained the subject of heated debates for the last 140 years. Are birds actually living dinosaurs? Where does the fossil record really lead? Did flight originate from the "ground up" or "trees down"? Pat Shipman traces the age-old human desire to soar above the earth and to understand what has come before us. Taking Wing is science as adventure story, told with all the drama by which scientific understanding unfolds.

Dinosaurs of the Air

Dinosaurs of the Air PDF Author: Gregory S. Paul
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 9780801867637
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 484

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Book Description
This book synthesises the growing body of evidence which suggests that modern-day birds have evolved from theropod dinosaurs of prehistoric times. The author argues that the ancestor-descendant relationship can also be reversed.

Quest for Performance

Quest for Performance PDF Author: Laurence K. Loftin
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Airplanes
Languages : en
Pages : 547

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Book Description


Evolution of the Airliner

Evolution of the Airliner PDF Author: Ray Whitford
Publisher: Crowood Press (UK)
ISBN:
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
Commercial air travel has come a long way since the first purpose-built airliners took to the sky soon after World War I. Countless innovations have enabled aircraft to fly higher, faster, and more efficiently, and flights have become more comfortable and cheaper. This important book, based on a well-received series of articles in Air International magazine, offers an unparalleled insight into the way that the airliner has evolved and how each new breakthrough and refinement has affected the industry and the future path of development.

Birdflight as the Basis of Aviation

Birdflight as the Basis of Aviation PDF Author: Otto Lilienthal
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aerodynamics
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description


Butterflies

Butterflies PDF Author: Carol L. Boggs
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226063171
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 784

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Book Description
In Butterflies: Ecology and Evolution Taking Flight, the world's leading experts synthesize current knowledge of butterflies to show how the study of these fascinating creatures as model systems can lead to deeper understanding of ecological and evolutionary patterns and processes in general. The twenty-six chapters are organized into broad functional areas, covering the uses of butterflies in the study of behavior, ecology, genetics and evolution, systematics, and conservation biology. Especially in the context of the current biodiversity crisis, this book shows how results found with butterflies can help us understand large, rapid changes in the world we share with them—for example, geographic distributions of some butterflies have begun to shift in response to global warming, giving early evidence of climate change that scientists, politicians, and citizens alike should heed. The first international synthesis of butterfly biology in two decades, Butterflies: Ecology and Evolution Taking Flight offers students, scientists, and amateur naturalists a concise overview of the latest developments in the field. Furthermore, it articulates an exciting new perspective of the whole group of approximately 15,000 species of butterflies as a comprehensive model system for all the sciences concerned with biodiversity and its preservation. Contributors: Carol L. Boggs, Paul M. Brakefield, Adriana D. Briscoe, Dana L. Campbell, Elizabeth E. Crone, Mark Deering, Henri Descimon, Erika I. Deinert, Paul R. Ehrlich, John P. Fay, Richard ffrench-Constant, Sherri Fownes, Lawrence E. Gilbert, André Gilles, Ilkka Hanski, Jane K. Hill, Brian Huntley, Niklas Janz, Greg Kareofelas, Nusha Keyghobadi, P. Bernhard Koch, Claire Kremen, David C. Lees, Jean-François Martin, Antónia Monteiro, Paulo César Motta, Camille Parmesan, William D. Patterson, Naomi E. Pierce, Robert A. Raguso, Charles Lee Remington, Jens Roland, Ronald L. Rutowski, Cheryl B. Schultz, J. Mark Scriber, Arthur M. Shapiro, Michael C. Singer, Felix Sperling, Curtis Strobeck, Aram Stump, Chris D. Thomas, Richard VanBuskirk, Hans Van Dyck, Richard I. Vane-Wright, Ward B. Watt, Christer Wiklund, and Mark A. Willis

The Biomechanics of Insect Flight

The Biomechanics of Insect Flight PDF Author: Robert Dudley
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691186340
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 497

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Book Description
From the rain forests of Borneo to the tenements of Manhattan, winged insects are a conspicuous and abundant feature of life on earth. Here, Robert Dudley presents the first comprehensive explanation of how insects fly. The author relates the biomechanics of flight to insect ecology and evolution in a major new work of synthesis. The book begins with an overview of insect flight biomechanics. Dudley explains insect morphology, wing motions, aerodynamics, flight energetics, and flight metabolism within a modern phylogenetic setting. Drawing on biomechanical principles, he describes and evaluates flight behavior and the limits to flight performance. The author then takes the next step by developing evolutionary explanations of insect flight. He analyzes the origins of flight in insects, the roles of natural and sexual selection in determining how insects fly, and the relationship between flight and insect size, pollination, predation, dispersal, and migration. Dudley ranges widely--from basic aerodynamics to muscle physiology and swarming behavior--but his focus is the explanation of functional design from evolutionary and ecological perspectives. The importance of flight in the lives of insects has long been recognized but never systematically evaluated. This book addresses that shortcoming. Robert Dudley provides an introduction to insect flight that will be welcomed by students and researchers in biomechanics, entomology, evolution, ecology, and behavior.

The Evolution of Feathers

The Evolution of Feathers PDF Author: Christian Foth
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030272230
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
Feathers are one of the most unique characteristics of modern birds and represent the most complex and colourful type of skin derivate within vertebrates, while also fulfilling various biological roles, including flight, thermal insulation, display, and sensory function. For years it was generally assumed that the origin of flight was the main driving force for the evolution of feathers. However, various discoveries of dinosaur species with filamentous body coverings, made over the past 20 years, have fundamentally challenged this idea and produced new evolutionary scenarios for the origin of feathers. This book is devoted to the origin and evolution of feathers, and highlights the impact of palaeontology on this research field by reviewing a number of spectacular fossil discoveries that document the increasing morphological complexity along the evolutionary path to modern birds. Also featuring chapters on fossil feather colours, feather development and its genetic control, the book offers a timely and comprehensive overview of this popular research topic.