Flight in slow motion: Aerodynamics of the pterosaur wing

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Volumn 278, Issue 1713, 2011, Pages 1881-1885

  Palmer, Colin ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Aerodynamics; Flight; Pterosaurs; Wing membrane

Indexed keywords

AERODYNAMICS; BONE; FLIGHT ACTIVITY; FLY; HANDICAP PRINCIPLE; MEMBRANE; PTEROSAUR; TURBULENCE; VULNERABILITY; WING;

ANIMAL; ARTICLE; BIOLOGICAL MODEL; BIOMECHANICS; BODY SIZE; BONE; EVOLUTION; FLYING; FORELIMB; FOSSIL; HISTOLOGY; PHYSIOLOGY; REPTILE;

ANIMALS; BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION; BIOMECHANICS; BODY SIZE; BONE AND BONES; FLIGHT, ANIMAL; FOSSILS; MODELS, BIOLOGICAL; REPTILES; WING;

AVES;

EID: 79955754573     PISSN: 09628452     EISSN: 14712970     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.2179     Document Type: Article

References (48)

1. Wellnhofer, P. 1991 The illustrated encyclopedia of pterosaurs. London, UK: Salamander.
2. Unwin, D. M. 2005 The pterosaurs: from deep time. New York, NY: Pi Press.
3. Kellner, W. A., Wang, X., Tischlinger, H., Campos, D., Hone, D. W. E. & Meng, X. 2009 The soft tissue of Jeholopterus (Pterosauria, Anurognathidae, Batrachognathinae) and the structure of the pterosaur wing membrane. Proc. R. Soc. B 277, 321-329. (doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.0846)
4. Marchaj, C. A. 1979 Aero-hydrodynamics of sailing. London, UK: Adlard Coles Nautical.
5. Claessens, L. P. A. M., O'Connor, P. M. & Unwin, D. M. 2009 Respiratory evolution facilitated the origin of pterosaur flight and aerial gigantism. PLoS ONE 4, e4497. (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004497)
6. Frey, E. & Riess, J. 1981 A new reconstruction of the pterosaur wing. N. Jb. Geol. Paläont. Abh. 161, 1-27.
7. Norberg, U. M. L. 2002 Structure, form, and function of flight in engineering and the living world. J. Morphol. 252, 52-81. (doi:10.1002/jmor.10013)
8. Padian, K. & Rayner, J. M. V. 1993 The wings of pterosaurs. Am. J. Sci. 293, 91-166. (doi:10.2475/ajs.293.A.91)
9. Hankin, E. H. & Watson, D. M. S. 1914 On the flight of pterodactyls. Aero. J. 18, 24-335.
10. Bramwell, C. D. & Whitfield, G. R. 1974 Biomechanics of Pteranodon. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 267, 503-581. (doi:10.1098/rstb.1974.0007)
11. Stein, R. S. 1975 Dynamic analysis of Pteranodon ingens: a reptilian adaptation for flight. J. Paleont. 49, 534-548.
12. Brower, J. C. 1983 The aerodynamics of Pteranodon and Nyctosaurus, two large Pterosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous of Kansas. J. Vert. Paleont. 3, 84-124. (doi:10.1080/02724634.1983.10011963)
13. Pennycuick, C. J. 1988 On the reconstruction of pterosaurs and their manner of flight, with notes on vortex wakes. Biol. Rev. 63, 209-231. (doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.1988.tb00633.x)
14. Hazlehurst, G. 1991 The morphometric and flight characteristics of the Pterosauria. PhD thesis, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
15. Frey, E., Buchy, M.-C. & Martill, D. M. 2003 Middleand bottom-decker Cretaceous pterosaurs: unique designs in active flying vertebrates. In Evolution and palaeobiology of pterosaurs (eds E. Buffetaut & J.-M. Mazin), pp. 267-274. Special Publications 217. London, UK: Geological Society of London.
16. Wilkinson, M. T. 2008 Three-dimensional geometry of a pterosaur wing skeleton, and its implications for aerial and terrestrial locomotion. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 154, 27-69. (doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00409.x)
17. Bennett, S. C. 2007 Articulation and function of the pteroid bone of pterosaurs. J. Vert. Paleo. 27, 881-891. (doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[881:AAFOTP]2.0.CO;2)
18. Shyy, W., Lian, Y., Tang, J., Viieru, D. & Liu, H. 2008 Aerodynamics of low Reynolds number flyers. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
19. Marchaj, C. A. 1996 Sail performance: theory and practice. London, UK: Adlard Coles Nautical.
20. Chapin, V. G., Jamme, S. & Chassaing, P. 2005 Viscous computational fluid dynamics as a relevant decisionmaking tool for mast-sail aerodynamics. Mar. Technol. Soc. J. 42, 1-10.
21. Wilkinson, M. T., Unwin, D. M. & Ellington, C. P. 2006 High lift function of the pteroid bone and forewing of pterosaurs. Proc. R. Soc. B 273, 119-126. (doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3278)
22. Bennett, S. C. 2000 Pterosaur flight: the role of actinofibrils in wing function. Hist. Biol. 14, 255-284. (doi:10.1080/10292380009380572)
23. Swartz, S. M., Groves, M. S., Kim, H. D. & Walsh, W. R. 1996 Mechanical properties of bat wing membrane skin. J. Zool. Soc. Lond. 239, 357-378. (doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1996.tb05455.x)
24. Barlow, J. B., Rae, W. H. & Pope, A. 1999 Low speed wind tunnel testing, 3rd edn. New York, NY: Wiley Interscience.
25. Milgram, J. H. 1971 Section data for thin, highly cambered airfoils in incompressible flow. Report CR-1767. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
26. Hoerner, S. F. 1985 Fluid-dynamic lift. NJ, USA: Hoerner Fluid Dynamics.
27. NACA 1921 Aerodynamic characteristics of aerofoils. Report no. 93, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. See http://naca.central.cranfield.ac.uk/reports/1921/naca-report-93.pdf.
28. Witton, M. T. 2009 A new approach to determining pterosaur body mass and its implications for pterosaur flight. In Flugsaurier: pterosaur papers in honour of Peter Wellnhofer. Zitteliana Series B (special volume) (eds E. Buffetaut & D. W. E. Hone), vol. 28, pp. 143-159.
29. Henderson, D. M. 2010 Pterosaur body mass estimates from three-dimensional mathematical slicing. J. Vert. Paleo. 30, 768-785. (doi:10.1080/02724631003758334)
30. Anderson, J. D. 2007 Fundamentals of aerodynamics. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill International.
31. Vogel, S. 1994 Life in moving fluids: the physical biology of flow. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
32. Azuma, A. 2006 The biokinetics of flying and swimming, 2nd edn. Reston, VA: AIAA Education Series.
33. Pennycuick, C. J. 1983 Thermal soaring compared in three dissimilar tropical bird species, Fregata magnificens, Pelecanus occidentalis and Coragyps atratus. J. Exp. Biol. 102, 307-325.
34. Shyy, W., Berg, M. & Ljunqvist, D. 1999 Flapping and flexible wings for biological and micro air vehicles. Progr. Aerospace Sci. 35, 455-506. (doi:10.1016/S0376-0421(98)00016-5)
35. Garrett, R. 1987 The symmetry of sailing: the physics of sailing for yachtsmen. London, UK: Adlard Coles.
36. Paton, J. S. & Morvan, H. P. 2007 The effect of mast rotation and shape on the performance of sails. Int. J. Mar. Eng. 149. (doi:10.3940/rina.ijme.2007.a2.10307)
37. Tennekes, H. 1997 The simple science of flight: from insects to jumbo jets. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
38. Alexander, R. M. 2003 Principles of animal locomotion. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
39. Pennycuick, C. J. 2008 Modelling the flying bird. Theoretical Ecology Series. The Netherlands: Academic Press, Elsevier Inc.
40. Pennycuick, C. J. 1971 Gliding flight of the white-backed vulture Gyps africanus. J. Exp. Biol. 55, 13-38.
41. Pennycuick, C. J. 1971 Gliding flight of the dog-faced bat Rousettus aegyptiacus observed in a wind tunnel. J. Exp. Biol. 55, 833-845.
42. Sachs, G. 2005 Minimum shear wind strength required for dynamic soaring of albatrosses. J. Exp. Biol. 147, 1-10. (doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.2004.00295.x)
43. Lissaman, P. 2005 Wind energy extraction by birds and flight vehicles. AIAA paper 2005-241. Reston, VA: American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics.
44. Woodcock, A. H. 1975 Thermals over the sea and gull flight behaviour. Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 9, 63-68. (doi:10.1007/BF00232254)
45. Agee, E. M. & Sheu, P. J. 1977 MCC and gull flight behaviour. Boundary-Layer Meteorol. 14, 247-251. (doi:10.1007/BF00122622)
46. Palmer, C. & Dyke, G. 2009 Biomechanics of the unique pterosaur pteroid. Proc. R. Soc. B 277, 1121-1127. (doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.1899)
47. Drela, M. & Giles, M. B. 1987 Viscous-inviscid analysis of transonic and low Reynolds number airfoils. AIAA J. 25, 1347-1355. (doi:10.2514/3.9789)
48. Selig, M. S. & Gulielmo, J. J. 1977 High-lift low Reynolds number airfoil design. J. Air. 34, 72-79. (doi:10.2514/2.2137)