Research paper
Lift devices in the flight of Archaeopteryx
JOSÉ MESEGUER
IDR/UPM, Instituto Universitario “Ignacio Da Riva”, E.T.S. de Ingenieros Aeronáuticos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain. j.meseguer@upm.es
Corresponding author
LUIS M. CHIAPPE
Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM), 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90007,USA. lchiappe@nhm.org
JOSÉ L. SANZ
Unidad de Paleontología, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), 28049 Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain. dinoproyecto@gmail.com
FRANCISCO ORTEGA
Grupo de Biología, Departamento de Física Matemática y de Fluidos, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), 28040 Madrid, Spain. fortega@ccia.uned.es
ÁNGEL SANZ-ANDRÉS
IDR/UPM, Instituto Universitario “Ignacio Da Riva”, E.T.S. de Ingenieros Aeronáuticos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain. angel.sanz.andres@upm.es
ISABEL PÉREZ-GRANDE
IDR/UPM, Instituto Universitario “Ignacio Da Riva”, E.T.S. de Ingenieros Aeronáuticos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain. isabel.perez.grande@upm.es
SEBASTIÁN FRANCHINI
IDR/UPM, Instituto Universitario “Ignacio Da Riva”, E.T.S. de Ingenieros Aeronáuticos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain. s.franchini@upm.es
ABSTRACT
Archaeopteryx has played a central role in the debates on the origins of avian (and dinosaurian) flight, even though as a flier it probably represents a relatively late stage in the beginnings of flight. We report on aerodynamic tests using a life-sized model of Archaeopteryx performing in a low turbulence wind tunnel. Our results indicate that tail deflection significantly decreased take-off velocity and power consumption, and that the first manual digit could have functioned as the structural precursor of the alula. Such results demonstrate that Archaeopteryx had already evolved high-lift devices, which are functional analogues of those present in today’s birds.
Keywords: Flight origins, Lift devices, Boundary layer control, Archaeopteryx, Palaeobiology.
How to cite: Meseguer, J., Chiappe, L.M., Sanz, J.L., Ortega, F., Sanz-Andrés, A., Pérez-Grande, I. & Franchini, S. 2012. Lift devices in the flight of Archaeopteryx. Spanish Journal of Palaeontology, 27 (2), 125-130.
Received 21 March 2012, Accepted 5 September 2012, Published 31 December 2012
https://doi.org/10.7203/sjp.27.2.18120
