New soft tissue data of pterosaur tail vane reveals sophisticated, dynamic tensioning usage and expands its evolutionary origins
Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to achieve powered flight. Early pterosaurs had long stiff tails with a mobile base that could shift their center of mass, potentially benefiting flight control. These tails ended in a tall, thin soft tissue vane that would compromise aerodynamic control and eff...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2024-12-01
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| Series: | eLife |
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| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/100673 |
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| author | Natalia Jagielska Thomas G Kaye Michael B Habib Tatsuya Hirasawa Michael Pittman |
| author_facet | Natalia Jagielska Thomas G Kaye Michael B Habib Tatsuya Hirasawa Michael Pittman |
| author_sort | Natalia Jagielska |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to achieve powered flight. Early pterosaurs had long stiff tails with a mobile base that could shift their center of mass, potentially benefiting flight control. These tails ended in a tall, thin soft tissue vane that would compromise aerodynamic control and efficiency if it fluttered excessively during flight. Maintaining stiffness in the vane would have been crucial in early pterosaur flight, but how this was achieved has been unclear, especially since vanes were lost in later pterosaurs and are absent in birds and bats. Here, we use Laser-Stimulated Fluorescence imaging to reveal a cross-linking lattice within the tail vanes of early pterosaurs. The lattice supported a sophisticated dynamic tensioning system used to maintain vane stiffness, allowing the whole tail to augment flight control and the vane to function as a display structure. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1ef1bea2ca6849a1b8a9fdf499d45ef2 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj-art-1ef1bea2ca6849a1b8a9fdf499d45ef22025-08-20T02:37:21ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2024-12-011310.7554/eLife.100673New soft tissue data of pterosaur tail vane reveals sophisticated, dynamic tensioning usage and expands its evolutionary originsNatalia Jagielska0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7602-5878Thomas G Kaye1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7996-618XMichael B Habib2Tatsuya Hirasawa3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6868-3379Michael Pittman4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6149-3078School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United KingdomFoundation for Scientific Advancement, Sierra Vista, United StatesDepartment of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United StatesDepartment of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, JapanSchool of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaPterosaurs were the first vertebrates to achieve powered flight. Early pterosaurs had long stiff tails with a mobile base that could shift their center of mass, potentially benefiting flight control. These tails ended in a tall, thin soft tissue vane that would compromise aerodynamic control and efficiency if it fluttered excessively during flight. Maintaining stiffness in the vane would have been crucial in early pterosaur flight, but how this was achieved has been unclear, especially since vanes were lost in later pterosaurs and are absent in birds and bats. Here, we use Laser-Stimulated Fluorescence imaging to reveal a cross-linking lattice within the tail vanes of early pterosaurs. The lattice supported a sophisticated dynamic tensioning system used to maintain vane stiffness, allowing the whole tail to augment flight control and the vane to function as a display structure.https://elifesciences.org/articles/100673pterosaursfossil soft tissuetail vanedynamic tensioningLaser-Stimulated Fluorescence |
| spellingShingle | Natalia Jagielska Thomas G Kaye Michael B Habib Tatsuya Hirasawa Michael Pittman New soft tissue data of pterosaur tail vane reveals sophisticated, dynamic tensioning usage and expands its evolutionary origins eLife pterosaurs fossil soft tissue tail vane dynamic tensioning Laser-Stimulated Fluorescence |
| title | New soft tissue data of pterosaur tail vane reveals sophisticated, dynamic tensioning usage and expands its evolutionary origins |
| title_full | New soft tissue data of pterosaur tail vane reveals sophisticated, dynamic tensioning usage and expands its evolutionary origins |
| title_fullStr | New soft tissue data of pterosaur tail vane reveals sophisticated, dynamic tensioning usage and expands its evolutionary origins |
| title_full_unstemmed | New soft tissue data of pterosaur tail vane reveals sophisticated, dynamic tensioning usage and expands its evolutionary origins |
| title_short | New soft tissue data of pterosaur tail vane reveals sophisticated, dynamic tensioning usage and expands its evolutionary origins |
| title_sort | new soft tissue data of pterosaur tail vane reveals sophisticated dynamic tensioning usage and expands its evolutionary origins |
| topic | pterosaurs fossil soft tissue tail vane dynamic tensioning Laser-Stimulated Fluorescence |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/100673 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nataliajagielska newsofttissuedataofpterosaurtailvanerevealssophisticateddynamictensioningusageandexpandsitsevolutionaryorigins AT thomasgkaye newsofttissuedataofpterosaurtailvanerevealssophisticateddynamictensioningusageandexpandsitsevolutionaryorigins AT michaelbhabib newsofttissuedataofpterosaurtailvanerevealssophisticateddynamictensioningusageandexpandsitsevolutionaryorigins AT tatsuyahirasawa newsofttissuedataofpterosaurtailvanerevealssophisticateddynamictensioningusageandexpandsitsevolutionaryorigins AT michaelpittman newsofttissuedataofpterosaurtailvanerevealssophisticateddynamictensioningusageandexpandsitsevolutionaryorigins |