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. 2021 Nov 2;118(44):e2107631118.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.2107631118.

Pterosaurs evolved a muscular wing-body junction providing multifaceted flight performance benefits: Advanced aerodynamic smoothing, sophisticated wing root control, and wing force generation

Michael Pittman  1   2 , Luke A Barlow  1 , Thomas G Kaye  3 , Michael B Habib  4
Affiliations

Pterosaurs evolved a muscular wing-body junction providing multifaceted flight performance benefits: Advanced aerodynamic smoothing, sophisticated wing root control, and wing force generation

Michael Pittman et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

Pterosaurs were the first vertebrate flyers and lived for over 160 million years. However, aspects of their flight anatomy and flight performance remain unclear. Using laser-stimulated fluorescence, we observed direct soft tissue evidence of a wing root fairing in a pterosaur, a feature that smooths out the wing-body junction, reducing associated drag, as in modern aircraft and flying animals. Unlike bats and birds, the pterosaur wing root fairing was unique in being primarily made of muscle rather than fur or feathers. As a muscular feature, pterosaurs appear to have used their fairing to access further flight performance benefits through sophisticated control of their wing root and contributions to wing elevation and/or anterior wing motion during the flight stroke. This study underscores the value of using new instrumentation to fill knowledge gaps in pterosaur flight anatomy and evolution.

Keywords: aerodynamics; flight performance; fossil soft tissue; pterosaurs; wing root fairing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Pterodactyloid pterosaur BSP 1937 I 18 reveals soft tissues around the base of the neck, the shoulders, and the upper arm. BSP 1937 I 18 was recovered from the Late Jurassic Solnhofen Limestones of Southern Germany. (A) Observed soft tissues around the base of the neck, the shoulder, and the forewing (brachium). (B) Conceptual drawing of the wing root fairing (light pink) in life in anterior view as well as its two-dimensional preservation in the fossil. (C) Bats have a fur-dominated wing root fairing (anterior and dorsal view). (D) Birds have a feather-dominated wing root fairing (anterior and dorsal view).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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