Bats and Gliders...
Bats are mammals and are said to be in no way related to Pterasaurs. But what if like the dinosaurs evolveing into Birds did the 20 million year gap between the last pterasaurs and the first Bat allow suficient time for them to evolve. Bats come from the order Chiroptera. And are belived to have first appeared some 45 million years ago. Their most distinguishing feature is that like the Pterasaur their forelimbs are developed as wings, making them the only mammal in the world naturally capable of flight; other mammals, such as flying squirrels and gliding phalangers, can glide for limited distances but are not capable of true sustainable flight.
The word Chiroptera can be translated from the Greek words for "hand wing," as the structure of the open wing is very similar to an outspread human hand, with a membrane (patagium) between the fingers that also stretches between hand and body.
There are estimated to be about 1,100 species of bats worldwide, accounting for about 20% of all mammal species.
Flying squirrels snakes frogs would be better described as being capable of controlled decent and in a way are capable of true gliding or flight
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Top - Icrosaurus, Bottom - Coelurosauravus |
Flying Squirrel |
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