Flying and gliding have evolved separately many times across animals. The document discusses various examples of flying and gliding animals, grouped by invertebrates (insects, spiders, squid), fish (flying fish, halfbeaks), amphibians (flying frogs), reptiles (draco lizards, gliding geckos, gliding snakes), and mammals (flying phalangers, flying squirrels, flying lemurs, possible limited gliding in sifakas and cats). Many canopy-dwelling rainforest animals have evolved gliding abilities to aid in navigating between trees.

1. Flying
animals
Actually all of the animals I am going
to talk about either glide or powered
fight.

2. All about flying animals!?
A number of animals have evolved aerial locomotion,
either by powered flight or by gliding. Flying and gliding
animals have evolved separately many times, without
any single ancestor. Flight has evolved at least four
times, in the insects, pterosaurs, birds, and bats.
Gliding has evolved on many more occasions. Usually
the development is to aid canopy animals in getting
from tree to tree, although there are other possibilities.
Gliding, in particular, has evolved
among rainforest animals, especially in the rainforests
in Asia (most especially Borneo)

3. Invertebrates:
Arthropods
 Gliding ants (gliding). The flightless workers of these
insects have secondarily gained some capacity to move
through the air. Gliding has evolved independently in a
number of arboreal ant species from the groups
Cephalotini, Pseudomyrmecinae, and Formicinae(mostly
Camponotus). All arboreal dolichoderines and non-
cephalotine myrmicines except Daceton armigerum do
not glide. Living in the rainforest canopy like many other
gliders, gliding ants use their gliding to return to the
trunk of the tree they live on should they fall or be
knocked off a branch.

4. Continuation
 Gliding was first discovered for Cephalotes
atreus in the Peruvian rainforest. Cephalotes
atreus can make 180 degree turns, and locate
the trunk using visual cues, succeeding in
landing 80% of the time.[8] Unique among
gliding animals, Cephalotini and
Pseudomyrmecinae ants glide abdomen first, the
Forminicae however glide in the more
conventional head first manner.[9] The following
page has some good videos of gliding ants. [1]

5. Oh! Then how about spiders!!!
 Spiders (parachuting). The young of some
species of spiders travel through the air by
using silk draglines to catch the wind, as
may some smaller species of adult spider,
such themoney spider family. This
behavior is commonly known as
"ballooning". Ballooning spiders make up
part of the aeroplankton.

6. And last one of all Molluscs
 Flying squid (gliding). Several oceanic squids, such as
the Pacific flying squid, will leap out of the water to
escape predators, an adaptation similar to that of
flying fish.[10] Smaller squids will fly in shoals, and have
been observed to cover distances as long as 50 meters.
Small fins towards the back of the mantle do not
produce much lift, but do help stabilize the motion of
flight. They exit the water by expelling water out of their
funnel, indeed some squid have been observed to
continue jetting water while airborne possibly providing
thrust even after leaving the water. This may make
flying squid the only animals with jet-propelled aerial
locomotion.
 Where the trees are tall and widely spaced

7. Now lets go to Vertebrates:
Fish

There are over 50 species of flying fish belonging to the
family Exocoetidae The largest flying fish can reach
lengths of 45 cm, but most species measure less than
30 cm in length. They can be divided into two-winged
varieties and four-winged varieties. Before the fish
leaves the water it increases its speed to around 30
body lengths per second and as it breaks the surface
and is freed from the drag of the water it can be
traveling at around 60 km/h.The glides are usually up to
30–50 metres in length, but some have been observed
soaring for hundreds of metres using the updraft on the
leading edges of waves. The fish can also make a series
of glides, each time dipping the tail into the water to
produce forward thrust. The longest recorded series of
glides, with the fish only periodically dipping its tail in
the water, was for 45 seconds .

8. More Fish!!!

Halfbeaks (gliding). A group related to the Exocoetidae, one or two
hemirhamphid species possess enlarged pectoral fins and show true
gliding flight rather than simple leaps.
 Freshwater butterfly fish (possibly gliding). It can move through the
air several times the length of its body. While it does this, the fish
flaps its large pectoral fins, giving it its common name.
 However, it is debated whether the freshwater butterfly fish can
truly glide, Saidel et al. (2004) argue that it cannot.
 Freshwater hatchet fish (possibly flying). There are 9 species of
freshwater hatchet fish split among 3 genera. Freshwater
hatchetfish have an extremely large sternal region that is fitted with
a large amount of muscle that allows it to flap its pectoral fins. They
can move in a straight line over a few meters to escape predators

9. Now on to Amphibians
 Rhacophoridae flying frogs. Gliding has evolved
independently in two families of tree frogs, the
Old World Rhacophoridae and the New World Hylidae.
Within each lineage there are a range of gliding abilities
from non-gliding, to parachuting, to full gliding.. For
example, the Malayan flying frog glides using the
membranes between the toes of its limbs, and small
membranes located at the heel, the base of the leg, and
the forearm. Some of the frogs are quite accomplished
gliders, for example, the Chinese gliding frog
Polypedates dennysi can maneuver in the air, making
two kinds of turn, either rolling into the turn or yawing
into the turn (a crabbed turn). Hylidae flying frogs.The
other frog family that contains gliders.

10. Now lets head
of on
REPTILES

11. Draco lizard
There are 28 species of lizard of the genus Draco,
found in Sri Lanka, India, and Southeast Asia.
They live in trees, feeding on tree ants, but nest
on the forest floor. They can glide for up to 60
m and over this distance they lose only 10 m in
height. Unusually, their patagium is supported
on elongated ribs rather than the more common
situation among gliding vertebrates of having
the patagium attached to the limbs. When
extended, the ribs form a semicircle on either
side the lizard's body and can be folded to the
body like a folding fan.

12. Gliding Lacertids and Ptychozoon
(gliding geckos)
 Gliding Lacertids (gliding). There are two species
of gliding lacertid, of the genus Holaspis. Found
in Africa. They have fringed toes and tail sides
and can flatten their bodies for
gliding/parachuting.
 There are six species of gliding gecko, of the
genus Ptychozoon, from Southeast Asia. These
lizards have small flaps of skin along their limbs,
torso, tail, and head that catch the air and
enable them to glide.

13. Chrysopelea snake
 Five species of snake from Southeast Asia,
Melanesia, and India. The paradise tree snake of
southern Thailand, Malaysia, Borneo, Philippines,
and Sulawesi is the most capable glider of those
snakes studied. It glides by stretching out its
body sideways and opening its ribs so the belly
is concave, and by making lateral slithering
movements. It can remarkably glide up to 100 m
and make 90 degree turns. Follow this link for
videos of gliding snakes.

14. Now who is
ready for
Mammals???

15. Flying phalangers or wrist-winged
gliders.
 Flying phalangers or wrist-winged gliders gliding
possbliy found in Australia, and New Guinea.
The gliding membranes are hardly noticeable
until they jump. On jumping, the animal extends
all four legs and stretches the loose but
muscularly controlled folds of skin. The
subfamily contains seven species. Of the six
species in the genus Petaurus, the Sugar glider
and the Biak Glider are the most common
species.

16. Petauroides volans
 The only species of the genus Petauroidae
of the family Pseudocheiridae. This
Marsupial is found in Australia, and was
originally classed with the flying
phalangers, but is now recognized as
separate. Its flying membrane only
extends to the elbow, rather than to the
wrist as in Petaurinae.

17. Feather-tailed possums
 This family of Marsupials contains two
genera, each with one species. The
Feather-tail Glider found in Australia is the
size of a very small mouse and is the
smallest mammalian glider. The
Feather-tail Possum is found in
New Guinea, but does not glide. Both
species have a stiff-haired feather-like tail.

18. Flying squirrel
 There are 43 species divided between 14 genera of
flying squirrel. Flying squirrels are found almost
worldwide in tropical (Southeast Asia, India, and
Sri Lanka), temperate, and even Arctic environments.
They tend to be nocturnal. When a flying squirrel wishes
to cross to a tree that is further away than the distance
possible by jumping, it extends the cartilage spur on its
elbow or wrist. This opens out the flap of furry skin that
stretches from its wrist to its ankle. It glides spread-
eagle and with its tail fluffed out like a parachute, and
grips the tree with its claws when it lands. Flying
squirrels have been reported to glide over 200 m.

19. Flying lemurs
 There are two species of flying lemur. This is
not a lemur, which is a primate, but molecular
evidence suggests that colugos are a
sister group to primates; however, some
mammologists suggest they are a sister group
to bats. Found in Southeast Asia, the colugo is
probably the mammal most adapted for gliding,
with a patagium that is as large as geometrically
possible. They can glide as far as 70 m with
minimal loss of height.

20. Sifaka
 Sifaka and possibly some other primates
(possible limited gliding/parachuting) . A number
of primates have been suggested to have
adaptations that allow limited gliding and/or
parachuting: sifakas, indris, galagos and
saki monkeys. Most notably, the sifaka, a type
of lemur, has thick hairs on its forearms that
have been argued to provide drag, and a small
membrane under its arms that has been
suggested to provide lift by having aerofoil
properties.

21. Cats
If they fall, cats spread their bodies to
maximize drag, a very limited form of
parachuting. Cats have an innate '
righting reflex' that allows them to rotate
their bodies so they fall feet first. Some
other animals may show similar very
limited parachuting. There are also
anecdotal accounts of less limited
parachuting, or even semi-gliding, in
palm civets

22. Thank you for listening
for my presentation, I
hope you liked it.
Created by:Habiba
bishery Younes 5gn