[dinosaur] Protopteryx (Early Cretaceous enantiornithine bird) flight performance

Ben Creisler
[email protected]

A new paper:

Luis M. Chiappe,  Liu Di,  Francisco J. Serrano,  Zhang Yuguang & Qingjin
Meng (2019)
Anatomy and Flight Performance of the Early Enantiornithine Bird
Protopteryx fengningensis: Information from New Specimens of the Early
Cretaceous Huajiying Formation of China.
The Anatomical Record (advance online publication)
doi:  https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1002_ar.24322&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=goZo2QOXlhbPeUZgDwOiwIvo441rRlhgQ3Fnp21Np7Y&s=usWoed60QpVcq47Mx3z1yS-zSeDTNr2COcWjauToTWs&e= 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com_doi_10.1002_ar.24322&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=goZo2QOXlhbPeUZgDwOiwIvo441rRlhgQ3Fnp21Np7Y&s=A5p9-qH1D-4U66xJ0cKwXMlIFw25sJdby5_KN3BAD2w&e= 


The Early Cretaceous (~131 Million Years Ago) Protopteryx fengningensis is
one of the oldest and most primitive enantiornithine birds; however,
knowledge of its anatomy has largely been limited to the succinct
description of two specimens (holotype and paratype). This study describes
two new specimens of P. fengningensis preserving most of the skeleton and
plumage, and it therefore adds significantly to understanding the
morphology of this important species and the character evolution of
enantiornithine birds. The well‐preserved plumage of these specimens also
affords a quantitative assessment of the flight performance of P.
fengningensis. Our aerodynamic considerations indicate that this early
enantiornithine was capable of intermittent flight (bounding or
flap‐gliding), thus marking the earliest occurrence of such energy‐saving
aerial strategy.