Flying - a Story of Success Felicitas Pamatat looks into the emergence of flying species It is 09:57 am, I am sitting in the library, the air is filled with the smell of old and dusty books. From the open window, I can hear birds singing, in the distance the sound of children playing. As I look up from my book, I can see the scrupulously tended garden, with its many flowers, and the freshly mowed grass. But what catches my eye is not one of the opulent sculptures. It is a small black and white bird and a black cat with white spots sitting merely arms-length apart. The prey and its predator sit next to one another in, what seems like, harmony. This sight makes me wonder: 'Why does the cat not attack? Was it just fed? Is the cat sleepy and wanting to rest? Or, is the fact that the small bird could just fly away before the cat reaches it reason enough? What would the cat do if, instead of the bird, a mouse sat in front of it?' My thoughts are interrupted by a sudden motion in the garden — the cat pounced. The bird flew off. The cat did not even come close to the bird in its pathetic attempt to catch its prey. I follow its flight further until the small bird lands on a window sill, very close to where I am sitting. As flight is so abundant, I could venture to many different places on our planet to find answers to the phenomenon. Flight is everywhere, from the north to the south, from the snowy owl in the empty tundra of the Arctic, to the birds of paradise in the species-rich rainforest, to the vultures in the hot and sparse plains of the desert and to the albatrosses in a cold and unforgiving Antarctica. But to understand the origins of flight, I must go far, far into the past and start with the basics — what is flight? With this in mind, and no budget, I start my journey where all good journeys start — in a museum. To be precise, in the Museum of Zoology, here in Cambridge. As I enter the Museum, I see the specimen of a goose and a flying squirrel and I wonder, can both of them fly? The answer is a simple no. Birds, such as geese, are able to fly and glide, but the flying squirrel only glides from tree to tree without being able to ‘fly’. So what is the difference between gliding and flying? The main difference is that flight is powered through the use of a wing stroke, hence why it is often referred to as powered or active flight. Gliding, however, is passive and no stroke of the wing is required. To cover a greater horizontal distance, gliding animals usually climb trees or other heights and let themselves drop, using their parachute-like structures. Other gliding animals, such as the flying fish, move with high speed before going airborne. The last stroke of the tail fin coincides with the 6
Flying - a Story of Success
time their wings unfurl and the wings remain in place until they contract during landing. Although gliding animals do not use any sort of active prolongation, some can travel impressive distances. The flying fish can travel an astonishing 50 metres while completely airborne, while the flying squirrel can cover even greater distances, up to 115 metres. With many different species being able to glide but not fly the question remains; which animals can fly?
Easter 2020
