FLAPS · Flying Archosaurs: Deciphering the Physiological Correlates of Sky Conquest

Flying Archosaurs: Deciphering the Physiological Correlates of Sky Conquest

Understanding the evolutionary origins of flight in vertebrates remains one of the most complex challenges in evolutionary biology. Flight is among the most energetically demanding forms of locomotion, and its independent emergence in birds, bats, and pterosaurs reflects profound physiological innovations across vertebrate evolution. However, their metabolic adaptations required to sustain powered flight and their evolutionary trajectories remain debated. This project addresses these critical gaps by focusing on extinct flying archosaurs: pterosaurs and early birds. Despite considerable advances in fossil discoveries and imaging technologies, it is still unclear when these animals became capable of flight, and how their developmental strategies (precocial vs. altricial) and metabolic regimes evolved in parallel with flight adaptations. Moreover, the physiological underpinnings that allowed such species to overcome the "metabolic barrier" to flight, especially in juveniles—have never been explored in a comprehensive phylogenetic and histological framework. Set within the broader goals of the European Research Area and aligned with EU priorities in open science and gender equity, this Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) aimed to deliver insights into the evolution of vertebrate flight using an innovative interdisciplinary approach that integrates paleontology, evolutionary physiology, comparative anatomy, imaging technology, and statistical modeling. Specifically, the project aimed: - Investigate the developmental strategies and flight capabilities of extinct flying archosaurs using novel proxies for metabolic rate derived from bone microstructure and nutrient foramen morphology. - Test hypotheses on the metabolic performance of extinct species in a phylogenetic context, comparing extinct taxa with modern precocial and altricial birds and cursorial species. - Produce the first-ever comparative model estimating maximum and resting metabolic rates (RMR and MMR) for fossil flying vertebrates using non-destructive imaging and paleohistological techniques. To achieve these goals, the project used cutting-edge imaging platforms (e.g., micro-CT), quantitative bone histology, and phylogenetic eigenvector mapping (PEM). Specimens include key fossils from UNESCO listed sites in Brazil, Spain and China. This integrated analysis enabled an unprecedented reconstruction of physiological traits, ontogenetic stages, and evolutionary transitions tied to flight.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз