Birds do it, bees do it, but unfortunately we cannot. I'm alluding (o the capacity for self-powered aerial flight, an activity that we humans can only appreciate from a foreign perspective. Nonetheless, because we have designed our own flying machines from scratch, we recognize all loo well the difficulties inherent in getting something aloft and keeping it there. Hence it makes perfect sense that questions relating to the origins of flight in various animal groups perennially pique our interest. In a newly published study. James Marden and Michael Thomas draw upon numerous sources (paleontology, behavior, developmental genetics and morphology) to make the case that flying insect's wings evolved from the gills of aquatic or amphibious ancestors.
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