Claim CB921.2:

What use is half a wing? A leg evolving into a wing would be a bad leg long before it was a good wing.

Source:

Brown, Walt, 1995. In the beginning: Compelling evidence for creation and the Flood. Phoenix, AZ: Center for Scientific Creation, p. 7. http://www.creationscience.com/

Response:

  1. Half a wing can have any of several uses:
    • In insects, half a wing is useful for skimming rapidly across the surface of water (Marden and Kramer 1995; Kramer and Marden 1997; Thomas et al. 2000).
    • In larger animals, half a wing is useful for gliding. Airfoils for gliding appear in several different forms in many different animals, including
      • skin between legs on flying squirrels (Petauristinae), scaly-tailed squirrels (Anomaluridae), flying phalangers, and flying lemurs
      • flattened body of the flying snake (Chrysopelea)
      • large webbed feet on gliding tree frogs (Rhacophorus and Polypedates)
      • fins on flying fish (Exocoetidae) and flying squid (Onychoteuthis)
      • expanded lateral membranes supported by elongated flexible ribs on gliding lizards (e.g., Draco)
      • expanded lateral membranes supported by elongated jointed ribs on the Kuehneosauridae from the late Triassic
      • lateral membrane supported by bones separate from the rest of the skeleton on Coelurosauravus jaekeli, an Upper Permian flying reptile (Frey et al. 1997)
      • even an ant (Cephalotes atratus), when it falls, uses its hind legs to direct its aerial descent back to its home tree's trunk (Yanoviak et al. 2005).
    • In immature chickens, wing-flapping enhances hindlimb traction, allowing the chickens to ascend steeper inclines. This function could be an intermediate to the original flight of birds. (Dial 2003)
    • In some flightless birds (e.g., penguins), wings are used for swimming.
    • In some flightless birds, wings are probably used for startling potential predators.
    • Black herons use their wings to shade the water in which they fish.
    • Some owls use their wings to hold their prey against the ground.
    • Nighthawks, woodcocks, riflebirds, and several species of manakins make noises with their wings as part of sexual displays.
    • Partial wings may have other useful functions that nobody has thought of yet.

Links:

Marden, J. H., n.d. Evolution of insect flight: a stepwise model based on weight-supported locomotion on the surface of water. http://www.bio.psu.edu/People/Faculty/Marden/project2.html

References:

  1. Dial, K. P. 2003. Wing-assisted incline running and the evolution of flight. Science 299: 402-404. See also: Pennisi, E., 2003. Uphill dash may have led to flight. Science 299: 329.
  2. Frey, Eberhard, H-D. Sues, and W. Munk. 1997. Gliding mechanism in the Late Permian reptile Coelurosauravus. Science 275: 1450-1452.
  3. Kramer, M. G. and J. H. Marden. 1997. Almost airborne. Nature 385: 403-404.
  4. Marden, J. H. and M. G. Kramer. 1995. Locomotor performance of insects with rudimentary wings. Nature 377: 332-334.
  5. Thomas, M. A., K. A. Walsh, M. R. Wolf, B. A. McPheron and J. H. Marden. 2000. Molecular phylogenetic analysis of evolutionary trends in stonefly wing structure and locomotor behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 97: 13178-13183.
  6. Yanoviak, Stephen P., Robert Dudley, and Michael Kaspari. 2005. Directed aerial descent in canopy ants. Nature 433: 624-626.

Further Reading:

Brodsky, A. K., 1994. The Evolution of Insect Flight. Oxford University Press.
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created 2001-3-31, modified 2005-11-17