Birds were climbers

2003/01/17 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Eboluzioa
• Zoologia

It is not clear how birds developed the ability to fly, but, according to a new theory, it is the result of trying to ascend more easily on slope.

The new theory has been published by American biologist Kenneth Dial in the journal Science. He confesses that his 15-year-old son gave him the idea. Studying the dynamics of the partridge dial, quail and turkey wings, the son realized that they were climbing in vertical grass bundle. In view of this, his father began recording birds with high-speed cameras and discovered that what his son said was true.

As seen in the recordings, adult birds are able to walk upside down on walls of 105 degrees tilt, shaking the slopes and newborns have the ability to climb slopes with angles of 45 degrees, moving the wings one way or another.

According to the dials, it is very possible that the first birds move like this.

More information on the website of the journal Nature