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Rib-gliding
Topic Started: Nov 5 2009, 07:40 PM (1,060 Views)
Paul_de_Vries
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Have you guys heard of the genus Draco? Its a genus of agamid lizards which glides from tree to tree, using its folded out ribs kind of like wings.

Picture

Today I found out that this form of gliding has evolved independantly FOUR seperate times in diapsids! In Coelurosauravus, Kuehneosauridae, Xianglong and the extant genus Draco.

Picture

And they all pretty much do it in the same way. Convergent evolution never stops amazing me :)
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Canis Lupis
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Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

Ahh convergent evolution.

The ace in the hole for exobiologists.
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The Dodo
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Well it must be a useful feature, I wouldn't surprised if it evolved again.
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Carlos
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I really wish that rib like structures instead of ribs themselves were used for this, so that flight could evolve from this kind of reptile
Lemuria:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/

Terra Alternativa:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/

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Paul_de_Vries
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You mean that they keep their ribs, but a second type of structure protrudes outwards? Is this so that they have something to attach their (necesarilly) huge pec muscles to?
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Carlos
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Yes. I think that was about as obvious as I could get
Lemuria:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/

Terra Alternativa:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/

My Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/Carliro

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Holben
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Rumbo a la Victoria

Dragons' wings would have evolved from extended ribs.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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Ànraich
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L'évolution Spéculative est moi

This is interesting, the same thing has evolved in those gliding tree snakes and cobras (that's how they do that hood thing, if you didn't know). This must be a very useful feature for many different tasks. I wonder what it will lead to...
We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.

"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming

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Canis Lupis
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Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

It is? I thought they just used specially adapted cartalagenious structures derived from the base of the skull.

Oh well. Wikipedia, I'm comin'!
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Ànraich
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L'évolution Spéculative est moi

I'm pretty sure they pull apart their ribs. But then again I've also heard the cartilage thing as well as a flattening the neck theory. Perhaps it depends on the species of cobra.
We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.

"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming

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Holben
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Rumbo a la Victoria

The really big ones have no chance of flying.

But the flyers aren't that closely related to the cobras, are they?
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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Carlos
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Cobras do indeed use their ribs. If Wikipedia says they don't then they are retards.

And no, flying snakes and cobras aren't directly related. The usage of ribs evolved independently
Lemuria:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/

Terra Alternativa:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/

My Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/Carliro

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Holben
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Rumbo a la Victoria

Ok then...
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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Paul_de_Vries
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John...instead of the retard thing you could just hit us up with a credible reference. From what I can see the flying snakes are from the genus Chrysopelea. Which ones are the flying cobras?
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Carlos
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It just happens that most refferences are ignored by Wikipedia. For example, if I use anything by Darren Naish they imediately remove it. Its as if they have a hatred for scientific accuracy
Lemuria:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/

Terra Alternativa:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/

My Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/Carliro

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