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Taking Wing: Archaeopteryx and the Evolution of Bird Flight
In 1861, just a few years after the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, a scientist named Hermann von Meyer made an amazing discovery. Hidden in the Bavarian region of Germany was a fossil skeleton so exquisitely preserved that its wings and feathers were as obvious as its reptilian jaws and tail. This transitional creature offered tangible proof of Darwin's theory of evolution.
Hailed as the First Bird, Archaeopteryx has remained the subject of heated debates for the last 140 years. Are birds actually living dinosaurs? Where does the fossil record really lead? Did flight originate from the "ground up" or "trees down"? Pat Shipman traces the age-old human desire to soar above the earth and to understand what has come before us. Taking Wing is science as adventure story, told with all the drama by which scientific understanding unfolds.
Hailed as the First Bird, Archaeopteryx has remained the subject of heated debates for the last 140 years. Are birds actually living dinosaurs? Where does the fossil record really lead? Did flight originate from the "ground up" or "trees down"? Pat Shipman traces the age-old human desire to soar above the earth and to understand what has come before us. Taking Wing is science as adventure story, told with all the drama by which scientific understanding unfolds.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
4 people are currently reading
231 people want to read
About the author
Pat Shipman
19 books41 followersPat Shipman is a professor of anthropology at Penn State University. Coauthor of the award-winning The Ape in the Tree, she writes for American Scientist and lives in Moncure, North Carolina.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 6, 2013
Is Archaeopteryx a bird, or is it not? Could it fly or glide or neither? Was it descended from the dinosaur line, the crocodilian line or some other line? Did feathers initially evolve for flight or some other purpose? Did flight evolve from the trees down or the ground up? There have been a blizzard of scientific papers on these and related topics since the first fossil specimen was identified just two years after Darwin published On the Origin of Species.
One of the things that makes this book interesting is that it is not by one of the researchers who might have too much skin in the game to be objective about other points of view. Pat Shipman is a paleoanthropologist who took an interest in the subject and thanks to her we don't have to wade through and digest stacks of research papers. She has provided us with a thorough summary of the state of research up through 1998, much like an impartial judge reviewing the evidence from opposing factions. There have been a few fossil discoveries since then, (four more Archaeopteryx plus possibly feathered dinosaurs) but I feel the book still provides a very fine overview and a sound basis for evaluating the latest reports.
Archaeopteryx is in the subtitle and it provides the focal point, as it should, but “Taking Flight” or, the evolution of flying, is the real topic of the book, and be forewarned the author is quite thorough about this. She even starts with explaining why humans can't fly, which seems obvious, but the technical reasons and the comparison with birds is interesting. We then dive deep into bats, pterosaurs, and insects.
She briefly mentions flying fish but they were usually excluded when she and/or the researchers talked about flying vertebrates. Flying fish should certainly be mentioned when talking about the feasibility of the “ground up” evolutionary route to flying for flying fish clearly do not glide down from trees. I have spent hours at sea watching flying fish accelerate from below the surface and then leap into the air, gliding sometimes for several hundred yards. Clearly, a ground up, gliding style of flying is possible. Another thing that flying fish demonstrate is that flying is useful as an escape mechanism from predators. Although the book mentioned escape as a possible evolutionary motive for attempts to fly it was overwhelmed by the view that flying was motivated more by enhanced means of predation.
My only other complaint about this marvelous book is that there was too little attention given to the aerodynamics of the running takeoff as opposed to the standing takeoff. Much was said and documented about the flight muscles and their ratio to total body weight, wing area, etc. And although there was a brief discussion of ground speeds necessary for takeoff, there was little or no discussion about the contribution of leg muscles to the takeoff equation. It seems to me that in a running (or rolling) takeoff, as the wings begin to generate lift, they automatically remove some of the load from the legs which then can drive the flier even faster. Archaeopteryx seems clearly to have descended from small, fast-running theropod dinosaurs, so it seems not unreasonable to have expected more technical discussion on these points.
By the end of the book Ms. Shipman has become converted from the impartial outsider to one who now has specific opinions of her own wants to be involved in the ongoing research. And she mentions that she sees areas of missing research, perhaps even my such as my takeoff questions. I hope to hear more from her in the future.
Besides being a wonderful story about the evolution of flight, this book is a perfect example of the beauty and process of science with all its warts, tiffs, and “wild goose chases”. It would be a great motivator for a young person considering a career in almost any scientific discipline.
Finally, each reader, after absorbing all the evidence, gets the opportunity to create in his/her mind their own conception of Archaeopteryx. Here's mine. I side with those who believe that it was descended from fleet-footed theropod dinosaurs similar to the contemporaneous Compsognathus, whose fossils were frequently confused with those of Archaeopteryx. And given that all of the fossils thus far found have been in the Solnhofen limestones of Germany, which were originally laid down in shallow lagoons edged by arid, shrubby islands, it seems parsimonious to assume that these creatures lived near the waters they eventually died in. Combined with the rest of anatomical and aerodynamic evidence, I envision Archaeopteryx as a cross between a shorebird and a road runner that could fly only short distances at mostly low altitudes by taking a long running takeoff followed by a combination of gliding and inefficient flapping. This would have served it well for both hunting of flying and scurrying insects as well as escape from theropod relatives trying to make a meal for themselves.
One of the things that makes this book interesting is that it is not by one of the researchers who might have too much skin in the game to be objective about other points of view. Pat Shipman is a paleoanthropologist who took an interest in the subject and thanks to her we don't have to wade through and digest stacks of research papers. She has provided us with a thorough summary of the state of research up through 1998, much like an impartial judge reviewing the evidence from opposing factions. There have been a few fossil discoveries since then, (four more Archaeopteryx plus possibly feathered dinosaurs) but I feel the book still provides a very fine overview and a sound basis for evaluating the latest reports.
Archaeopteryx is in the subtitle and it provides the focal point, as it should, but “Taking Flight” or, the evolution of flying, is the real topic of the book, and be forewarned the author is quite thorough about this. She even starts with explaining why humans can't fly, which seems obvious, but the technical reasons and the comparison with birds is interesting. We then dive deep into bats, pterosaurs, and insects.
She briefly mentions flying fish but they were usually excluded when she and/or the researchers talked about flying vertebrates. Flying fish should certainly be mentioned when talking about the feasibility of the “ground up” evolutionary route to flying for flying fish clearly do not glide down from trees. I have spent hours at sea watching flying fish accelerate from below the surface and then leap into the air, gliding sometimes for several hundred yards. Clearly, a ground up, gliding style of flying is possible. Another thing that flying fish demonstrate is that flying is useful as an escape mechanism from predators. Although the book mentioned escape as a possible evolutionary motive for attempts to fly it was overwhelmed by the view that flying was motivated more by enhanced means of predation.
My only other complaint about this marvelous book is that there was too little attention given to the aerodynamics of the running takeoff as opposed to the standing takeoff. Much was said and documented about the flight muscles and their ratio to total body weight, wing area, etc. And although there was a brief discussion of ground speeds necessary for takeoff, there was little or no discussion about the contribution of leg muscles to the takeoff equation. It seems to me that in a running (or rolling) takeoff, as the wings begin to generate lift, they automatically remove some of the load from the legs which then can drive the flier even faster. Archaeopteryx seems clearly to have descended from small, fast-running theropod dinosaurs, so it seems not unreasonable to have expected more technical discussion on these points.
By the end of the book Ms. Shipman has become converted from the impartial outsider to one who now has specific opinions of her own wants to be involved in the ongoing research. And she mentions that she sees areas of missing research, perhaps even my such as my takeoff questions. I hope to hear more from her in the future.
Besides being a wonderful story about the evolution of flight, this book is a perfect example of the beauty and process of science with all its warts, tiffs, and “wild goose chases”. It would be a great motivator for a young person considering a career in almost any scientific discipline.
Finally, each reader, after absorbing all the evidence, gets the opportunity to create in his/her mind their own conception of Archaeopteryx. Here's mine. I side with those who believe that it was descended from fleet-footed theropod dinosaurs similar to the contemporaneous Compsognathus, whose fossils were frequently confused with those of Archaeopteryx. And given that all of the fossils thus far found have been in the Solnhofen limestones of Germany, which were originally laid down in shallow lagoons edged by arid, shrubby islands, it seems parsimonious to assume that these creatures lived near the waters they eventually died in. Combined with the rest of anatomical and aerodynamic evidence, I envision Archaeopteryx as a cross between a shorebird and a road runner that could fly only short distances at mostly low altitudes by taking a long running takeoff followed by a combination of gliding and inefficient flapping. This would have served it well for both hunting of flying and scurrying insects as well as escape from theropod relatives trying to make a meal for themselves.
January 7, 2023
Yikes. About everything you might ever want to know about the fossil that is considered one of, if not the prototype for all birds. There is a lot of information and detail about the fossil Archaeopteryx (and others) and birds, touching on or wading into almost every aspect of their evolution and flight behavior. From the outside this appears to be a slim volume and what might be a fairly 'light' read but looks are deceiving. Page after page on various aspects of comparative bird anatomy (ankles, feet, toes, wings, chest, etc.), cladistics (biological classification), flight theory, wing loading and the scientific debates that have raged around these topics for many decades. It occurs to me that Paleontology is both a new and an old science and it is interesting to learn how the ideas of earlier generations affected the thoughts and beliefs of later researchers. For instance the early drawings of what Pterosaurs might have looked like, which turned out to be inaccurate giving false leads to subsequent generations. 'Misinformation'! And since the first Archaeopteryx fossil was found in 1861 shortly after Darwin's 1859 publication it quickly became the focus of battle over competing ideas. One of the chief debates centers around the 'trees down' versus 'ground up' theory of how dinosaurs might have achieved flight. Both sides of the debate are given ample discussion although she comes down firmly on the 'ground up' side. At least there IS debate, robust and open, unlike more recent scientific debates which offer no room for dissent (despite being very new and untested 'science'). I guess the stakes are a bit lower so 'they' can permit such dangerous forays into the scientific method. This book has numerous diagrams, drawings and charts which are irritatingly small but incredibly useful in clarifying the dense pages of descriptive prose. There is so much here that I cannot really do justice to it. But if the topic interests you by all means. Since it was written in 1998 there is sure to have been considerable progress on many of the key questions and a quick review of Wikipedia shows this-there were seven know Archaeopteryx fossils, now there are twelve. Other fossils have been discovered with new information and implications, including one in China just the other day (1/3/2023). I do note that Wikipedia cites Pat Shipman's fine book as Further reading and no books seem to have been written on this specific topic that supersede it in time.
May 5, 2011
The first Archaeopteryx specimen, a fossilized feather, was found in 1860. Since then, seven fossilized skeletons have been discovered including one that had been collected in 1855 and was misidentified as a dinosaur until 1970. Taking Wing: Archaeopteryx and the Evolution of Bird Flight by Pat Shipman explores theories about what Archaeopteryx was like, how it evolved from other animals, and how its descendents evolved into modern birds.
Some of the questions considered are fascinating. How do birds fly? How did birds develop flight? Did birds evolve from tree dwellers that jumped from limb to limb into gliders and eventually to fliers? Or did they evolve from ground-dwelling bipeds whose forelimbs, no longer used for locomotion, could develop into wings? Did feathers initially develop for flight? Or was their first use for insulation? At what point in their evolution did birds become warm-blooded? How would warm-bloodedness or cold-bloodedness affect the ability of Archaeopteryx to fly?
Although the questions are fascinating, the style in which Shipman addressed them was not. Chapters read like review articles tied together by brief personal statements about why Shipman decided to explore chapter topics. Things that could have been said just once and possibly referenced later were repeated several times. I found some discussions boringly detailed. Diagrams were too small and not well-integrated into the text. The book contained a lot more than I absorbed. A shorter, snappier book could have communicated what I did absorb much more enjoyably.
Some of the questions considered are fascinating. How do birds fly? How did birds develop flight? Did birds evolve from tree dwellers that jumped from limb to limb into gliders and eventually to fliers? Or did they evolve from ground-dwelling bipeds whose forelimbs, no longer used for locomotion, could develop into wings? Did feathers initially develop for flight? Or was their first use for insulation? At what point in their evolution did birds become warm-blooded? How would warm-bloodedness or cold-bloodedness affect the ability of Archaeopteryx to fly?
Although the questions are fascinating, the style in which Shipman addressed them was not. Chapters read like review articles tied together by brief personal statements about why Shipman decided to explore chapter topics. Things that could have been said just once and possibly referenced later were repeated several times. I found some discussions boringly detailed. Diagrams were too small and not well-integrated into the text. The book contained a lot more than I absorbed. A shorter, snappier book could have communicated what I did absorb much more enjoyably.
June 7, 2019
incredible narrative
August 18, 2024
AN ANTHROPOLOGIST LOOKS AT ARCHAEOPTERYX FOR CLUES TO THE ORIGIN OF FLIGHT
Pat Shipman is an anthropologist at Pennsylvania State University, as well as the author/coauthor of books such as 'The Animal Connection: A New Perspective on What Makes Us Human,' 'The Evolution of Racism: Human Differences and the Use and Abuse of Science,' 'The Wisdom of the Bones: In Search of Human Origins,' etc.
She wrote in the Prologue to this 1998 book, "there is the history of the discovery of Archaeopteryx, a tale that cannot be separated from the interpretation of this species... Here is the story of the discovery of a special fossil... and the arguments it has inspired." (Pg. 20)
She states, "if feathers demonstrably predate flight---if the earliest feathered creature could not fly---then feathers cannot have evolved as flight mechanisms. Such a finding would not only clarify the function of feathers, but it would also imply that avian ancestors were already warm-blooded, as has been suggested of dinosaurs. On the other hand, if the earliest feathers found in the fossil record occur on an animal capable of true, flapping flight, then feathers are more strongly coupled to flight than ever." (Pg. 140)
She argues, "even a slight elongation of the scales along the trailing edge of the forearm... would give an advantage to an arboreal animal at risk of falling out of trees... the scale fringe would benefit by being stiff, for length and stiffness are properties that would make the fringe maximally effective in transforming plummeting to controlled falling or parachuting. Progressively elongated and elaborating scales into proto-feathers and then true feathers would permit controlled gliding and then flapping flight." (Pg. 153)
She admits, "Without dispute, bats evolved from a once-gliding ancestor. And, if bats could evolve flight from gliding, so could birds, at least in theory. Unfortunately... hypothetical evolutionary transitions do not necessarily indicate what actually occurred in the past... While it may be unlikely that birds evolved from gliders, unlikely things have happened more than once in the course of evolution." (Pg. 188)
She adds, "The strongest aspect of the theory... [has] contributed to a growing consensus that SOMEHOW the avian lineage started in the trees---is that is solves the problem of takeoff." (Pg. 201) She summarizes, "Evolving Archaeopteryx was just a matter of taking the predatory behavior of a ground-based animal and finding a way to carry that behavior up into the air." (Pg. 272)
This is a fascinating, creative look at one of the more challenging problems of evolutionary theory.
Pat Shipman is an anthropologist at Pennsylvania State University, as well as the author/coauthor of books such as 'The Animal Connection: A New Perspective on What Makes Us Human,' 'The Evolution of Racism: Human Differences and the Use and Abuse of Science,' 'The Wisdom of the Bones: In Search of Human Origins,' etc.
She wrote in the Prologue to this 1998 book, "there is the history of the discovery of Archaeopteryx, a tale that cannot be separated from the interpretation of this species... Here is the story of the discovery of a special fossil... and the arguments it has inspired." (Pg. 20)
She states, "if feathers demonstrably predate flight---if the earliest feathered creature could not fly---then feathers cannot have evolved as flight mechanisms. Such a finding would not only clarify the function of feathers, but it would also imply that avian ancestors were already warm-blooded, as has been suggested of dinosaurs. On the other hand, if the earliest feathers found in the fossil record occur on an animal capable of true, flapping flight, then feathers are more strongly coupled to flight than ever." (Pg. 140)
She argues, "even a slight elongation of the scales along the trailing edge of the forearm... would give an advantage to an arboreal animal at risk of falling out of trees... the scale fringe would benefit by being stiff, for length and stiffness are properties that would make the fringe maximally effective in transforming plummeting to controlled falling or parachuting. Progressively elongated and elaborating scales into proto-feathers and then true feathers would permit controlled gliding and then flapping flight." (Pg. 153)
She admits, "Without dispute, bats evolved from a once-gliding ancestor. And, if bats could evolve flight from gliding, so could birds, at least in theory. Unfortunately... hypothetical evolutionary transitions do not necessarily indicate what actually occurred in the past... While it may be unlikely that birds evolved from gliders, unlikely things have happened more than once in the course of evolution." (Pg. 188)
She adds, "The strongest aspect of the theory... [has] contributed to a growing consensus that SOMEHOW the avian lineage started in the trees---is that is solves the problem of takeoff." (Pg. 201) She summarizes, "Evolving Archaeopteryx was just a matter of taking the predatory behavior of a ground-based animal and finding a way to carry that behavior up into the air." (Pg. 272)
This is a fascinating, creative look at one of the more challenging problems of evolutionary theory.
April 30, 2025
The birds that exist nowadays evolved from some species, some have been studied, some there are just theories, but Pat Shipman will do the honors of introducing the reader to the world of The Origin of The Birds.
Starting from some unique fossils from just one Bird/Dinosaur, Pat Shipman studied what other Paleontologists, Ornithologists and other people that study this area.
With the description of this unique fossils, the birds flight, their evolution and their origin will reveal much more to elucidate the reader on this terms.
Through images, charts and descriptions, it will explain where this theories came from, what they say and what can be just a “I think is it” thing.
A origem das aves, como evoluiu a habilidade de voar e como elas próprias se foram adaptando aos meios e às suas características, é assim que Pat Shipman escreve sobre esta temática.
Através do estudo das teorias de outros paleontólogos, ornitólogos e não só, é possível compreender de onde elas vieram, o que fizeram e foram deixando para trás para que se possam ter tornado o que são hoje.
Tudo isto surgiu, quando 7 fósseis de uma só espécie foram encontrados, e com o estudo de cada uma individualmente, foi possível chegar a conclusões que podem fascinar o leitor e o entusiasta por esta área de estudo.
Starting from some unique fossils from just one Bird/Dinosaur, Pat Shipman studied what other Paleontologists, Ornithologists and other people that study this area.
With the description of this unique fossils, the birds flight, their evolution and their origin will reveal much more to elucidate the reader on this terms.
Through images, charts and descriptions, it will explain where this theories came from, what they say and what can be just a “I think is it” thing.
A origem das aves, como evoluiu a habilidade de voar e como elas próprias se foram adaptando aos meios e às suas características, é assim que Pat Shipman escreve sobre esta temática.
Através do estudo das teorias de outros paleontólogos, ornitólogos e não só, é possível compreender de onde elas vieram, o que fizeram e foram deixando para trás para que se possam ter tornado o que são hoje.
Tudo isto surgiu, quando 7 fósseis de uma só espécie foram encontrados, e com o estudo de cada uma individualmente, foi possível chegar a conclusões que podem fascinar o leitor e o entusiasta por esta área de estudo.
December 31, 2019
Heavy paleontological and biological analysis of seven fossil specimens and their connections to dinosaurs and birds. Shipman does an excellent job of presenting the 'ground-up' and 'tree-down' hypotheses of flight, but the technical terminology and Latin may be off-putting to novice science readers. (I fell asleep twice reading one of the early chapters.)
Read
December 24, 2017very technical but affords a good overview of theories of bird origins along with insight into the short rein that ego keeps on the intellect of all humans including the subcategory known as scientists.
January 10, 2020
I don’t think I can say anymore that has not already been said about this book. It puts a very good case for Archaeopteryx to be the first or very close to the first bird. Time will indeed show whether this is the case as more and more research is completed and fossil discoveries made.
July 4, 2021
If you have any interest in paleontology, ornithology or are just curious as to how birds evolved to fly this book is for you. It is a bit technical in regards to anatomy and physiology but it was definitely fascinating.
June 5, 2024
I didn't notice the date this was published until I already started reading and realized the information was out of date. It's well-researched, and I might have given it more stars twenty years ago, but now we need an updated version.
January 2, 2023
I read 1/2 of this then gave up. Although it is well written it was just too technical for me and I’m not interested enough in anatomy to carry on with it.
April 8, 2011
Bob,
I just finished reading this book. It is a rather wordy and long-winded treatment of the analysis of archaeopteryx fossils and the theories about how bird flight originated. There is a lot of discussion about the different viewpoints about how avian flight originated which I found less interesting and quite a lot of discussion of science studies that corroborate the different views. These I much enjoyed. Overall, for me, the book is a slow read but loaded with science that I was not aware of. I think you would enjoy it and appreciate the scientific information that it treats. Give it a try. CMB
I just finished reading this book. It is a rather wordy and long-winded treatment of the analysis of archaeopteryx fossils and the theories about how bird flight originated. There is a lot of discussion about the different viewpoints about how avian flight originated which I found less interesting and quite a lot of discussion of science studies that corroborate the different views. These I much enjoyed. Overall, for me, the book is a slow read but loaded with science that I was not aware of. I think you would enjoy it and appreciate the scientific information that it treats. Give it a try. CMB
April 12, 2016
This is one of those books that makes you want to learn even more about not just birds, but how the evolution of our bodies work. Why do mammals have shoulder bones, but birds have a wishbone? What is the importance of bird muscles to breathing? Shipman even looks at the competing theories of ground-up versus tree-down methods of developing flight. Definitely a Good Read!
Read
January 3, 2015Didn't finish, donated to charity during a house move.
April 30, 2012
Lots of great archaeopteryx information but some of his theories are a little off.
April 25, 2014
Great way to read about the evolution of dinosaurs to birds. Shipman conveys this science in an easy to understand manner. Anyone can read!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews