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Creative Education
On The Cover:
A Ptcroclaciyl (TER uh-DAK-tdl).
Reptiles were the hrst vertebrates
that had winys and could tly.

Cover Art by Walter Stuart.

Published by Creative Education, Inc., 123 South Broad Street, Mankato, Minnesota 56001

Copyright © 1989 by John Bonnett Wexo. Copynght 1991 hardbound edition by Creative
Education, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may he reproduced in any torm
without written permission from the publisher. Printed in the United States.

Printed by peninssion ot Wildlife Education, Ltd

ISBN 0-88682- 594.

 Created and vvrirten by

John Bonnett Wexo

(^hief Artist

Walter Stuart

Senior Art Consultant

Mark Hallett

Design Consultant
Eldon Paul Slick

ProdLiction Art Director

Maurene Mongan

Production Artists
Bob Meyer
Fiona King
Hildago Ruiz

Photo Staii'

Renee C. Burch
Katharine Boskoff

Publisher

Kenneth Kitson

Associate Publisher
Ray W. Ehlers
This Volume is Dedicated to: Kenneth Kitson, Ray Ehlers, Gerald Marino
and all ot my other friends at Wildlife Education. Their enduring support
and patience have sustained me on the long road to completion oi these
hooks.

Art Credits

Page Eight: Timothy Hayward; Page Nine: Upper Left and Lower Right,
Walter Stuart; Upper Right, Timothy Hayward; Page Ten: Middle Left,
Walter Stuart; Lower Left, Timothy Hayward; Pages Ten and Eleven:
Timothy Hayward; Page Eleven: Upper Right, Walter Stuart; Middle Left
and Right, Rohert Bampton; Lower Right, Walter Stuart; Page Twelve:
Lower Left and Upper Right, Timothy Hayward; Pages Twelve and
Thirteen: Timothy Hayward; Page Thirteen: Upper Middle, Walter
Stuart; Upper and Lower Middle: Rohert Bampton; Lower Left, Walter
Stuart; Lower Middle and Lower Right, Rohert Bampti^m; Page Fourteen:
Middle Left and Lower Right, Rohert Bampton; Lower Left, Timothy
Hayward; Pages Fourteen and Fifteen: Center, Tinn)thy Hayward; Page
Fifteen: Upper Left, Rohert Bampton; Upper Right, Timothy Hayward;
Middle and Middle Right, Walter Stuart; Lower Right, Walter Stuart;
Page Sixteen: TinK)thy Hayward; Page Seventeen: Top, Middle Right
and Lower Left, Rohert Bampton; Middle Left and Lower Right, Timothy
Hayward; Page Eighteen: Lower Right, Rohert Bampton; Pages Eighteen
and Nineteen: Timothy Hayward; Page Nineteen: Middle Left, Rohert
Bampton; Page Twenty: Middle Left, Rohert Bampton; Pages Twenty and
Twenty-one: Timothy Hayward; Pages Twenty-two and Twenty-three:
Background, Timothy Hayward; Figures, Chuck Byron.

Photographic Credits

Pages Six and Seven: Gordon Menzie (Modd by AiMirea von Sholly);
Background, Brian Brake, Nat'l Auduhon Society Collection (Photo
Reseurc/iers); Page Sixteen: Left, Gordon Men:ie (Model by Walter Stuart) ;

Lower Right, John Ostrom; Page Twenty: Upper Right, L. Riley (Bruce
Colenum. Iiic); Middle Left, A.N.T (NHPAj; Lower Left, Gordon Men:ie
(Model by Walter Stuart)

Creative Education ivould like to tluink Wildlife Education, Ltd., jor granting
them the nghl to print and distribute this hiirdbound edition.
 Contents

Flyers 6-7

Flying gives animals some 8-9

Getting up in the air 10-11

Flying reptiles 12-13

Birds 14-15

Where did birds come from 16-17

Birds that lived like dinosaurs 18-19

Bats 20-21

Remember 22-23

Index 24
 gives animals some GETTING AWAY
Flying
great achantages. And these Flying is a wonderful way to
ad\ antages are the reasons why escape from predators.
Dinosaurs were stong
several different groups of animals hax e
enough and fast enough to
taken to tlie air dnring the histor\- of hfe catch almost any animal on
on earth. the ground. But they could
not follow fl>ing reptiles
As \ on reineml)er. insects were the first
or birds into the air.
animals to fl\ Some inseets dexeloped
.

\\ ings to eseape from predators — and to

find new somx'es of food. For the same
reasons, some reptiles started to fl\', and
birds and bats followed them into the air.

GETTING FOOD
SmmGSAFE
I p lr*>«'s, or Uiah on a rocky cliff,
ill the
animals were sale from many pn'dators.
llyiiifj

They could huild nests and rai^ie their young

in greater safety.

Some flying reptiles

probably built nests like
birds do today.

EVOLUTION CONTINUES
\ertebrates started to fly for the
same reasons that vertebrates came
out of the water.

Since life began on_^

earth, new animals ?i
and plants have "
always evolved to filP'
empty niches. The
sky was empty, so
flying insects and
other flying animals
evolved to fill it.
 Getting up in the air was not easy for
vertebrates. took them It a long time to
evolve bodies that could do it. Insects were
flying for more than 150 million years before the first

vertebrates took to the air.

To fly, the vertebrates had to evolve bodies that

were light for their size, so they could be lifted off
the ground. And of course, one pair of legs had to
evolve into a pair of wings that could do the lifting.

Lastly, they needed very strong muscles to move

the wings.
Since flying requires a special kind of body, only
three groups of vertebrates have ever evolved into
flyers —
the flying reptiles, birds and bats. They
evolved from different groups of ancestors, but as
you will see, they looked very much alike.

UGHTBODIES

If you have ever wondered

why people can't fly, the
answer is simple: our bodies
aren't built the right way
to fly.

Everybody knows that something light ® is

easier to lift off the ground than something
heavy (3). This is why animals had to have very
light bodies before they could fly. It would
take too much energy to lift heavy bodies.

SOLID BONES
ARE HEaVT To make their bodies
^JT'''
lighter, all flying
vertebrates evolved
hollow bones. The
hollow spaces in the
bones were filled with
air —
and this made
them very Ught. For a long time, people
thought they might be able to
fly by flapping big wings made
—
of cloth but it never really
worked. Human bodies are
too heavy, and our chest
muscles are too small to fly.

10m

i
ih :
— I
 WINGS THAT LIFT
All flying creaturoshad
wings of a similar
—
shape curved on
top and rather flat
underneath. This shape
makes the air flow
faster over the top of
the wing ©.

The air flow makes a vacuum over the top

—
of the wing so higher air pressure under the
wing can push the wing up @. This is called
lift, and you can see how this works by blowing
on the top of a sheet of paper (3)-

BIG WINGS
The wings of a flying creature must be
very large for the size of its body.
The larger the wings are, the more
weight they can hold up in the air. To
fly, a human would need much longer
arms.

BIG MUSCLES
To move through the
air, bats and birds flap
their wings. They have
very large chest muscles
for the size of their
bodies to move the
wings up and down. To
fly, humans would need

huge chest muscles.

Since people can't fly by

themselves, they invented a
machine to do it for them.
The first airplanes were built
like birds in several ways to
help them get off the ground.
^
'»>f- They had hollow bodies that
were light for their size (J).
And their wings were curved
on top to provide lift ©• Of
course, airplanes don't flap
their wings— the power comes
from an engine
FK ing reptiles were the first

boiies that uot oi\ tlie ground.

animals with l)ack-
The\ started
ahont 190 million \ ears ago, near the start of the
to fly

Age ot Dinosanrs. Manx people think of them as "fl\ ing

dinosanrs. Init the\ were not. The\ were deseended

irom a diflerent gronp of reptiles than dinosam s.

.\11 fl\ ing reptiles are ealled pterosaurs (TERR-uh-

sawrs), whieh means ""fl\ ing reptiles. They all had

wings made of thick skin, stretehed ox er the hones
ol their arms and "hands. Some pterosanrs had hnge
wings, as xon ean see at right. Bnt there were ptero-
sanrs ot man\' diflerent sizes — inehiding some as small
as sparrows. Like birds, diflerent pterosanrs had differ-
ent kinds of beaks for eating different kinds of food, as
\on w ill see below.

There were pterosaurs with long

beaks and expandable pouches,
like pelicans They probably hunted
fish and stored them in their pouches,
as pelicans do. Others had pointed
beaks ®. or strange "brushes" in
their mouths ©—or stubby bills ®
like parrots.

Some pterosaurs
were very big. In fact,
the largest pterosaur
ever discovered was
probably the largest
flying creature that
ever lived! It had
wings that were 51
feet long from tip
to tip. This giant was
probably a glider that
did not flap its huge
wings.
 Many pterosaurs had
short, weak loj^s so —
they probably had
trouble standing up.
But they did have
Scientists have tested
strong claws on a model of a large
their feet and wings pterosaur in a wind
®. When they tunnel, to see how
weren't Hying, these
these huge creatures
pterosaurs probably were able to stay up in
hung from trees, the air. They discovered
like bats do today.
that pterosaur wings
could ride on the air
like huge kites!

Like kites, pterosaur wings

could be angled into the
wind. When the wind hits a kite,
—
the wind is pushed down (B) and
the kite is pushed up ©. The same
thing probably happened when the
wind hit a pterosaur wing (J);.

Pterosaur wings evolved

from reptile hands One
of the bones in the hand
became very long ®- A
sheet of thick skin was
stretched from this bone to
the body to form a wing
membrane

Hollow bones
helped to make
pterosaur bodies very
light for their size.
Pterosaur bodies The bones of a large
probably had hollow pterosaur were so
areas inside filled
, light that a single
with air to make man could carry all
them lighter. of them with ease!
 Like large pterosaurs, large birds
often ride on the air like kites. But
they also flap their wings to push
their bodies forward through the air.
Birds can H\ tor some of the
ix-asons that pterosaurs could
same
fly. Like
pterosaurs, have hglit l)odies
l)ircls

and tlie\ have large wings to carr\' them

through the air. But there are also some
important differences between birds and
pterosaurs.
For one thing, the wings of birds are built
differentK. as you will see below. For another
thing, the bodies of pterosain s were probably
coxered with short hair —
but birds are
co\ ered with feathers.

Like pterosaur wings, the

wings of birds evolved
from primitive reptile
hands ®. But they
evolved in a different
way.

The bones joined together

and flattened out. This formed
a broad base of bone
Feathers are attached to skin
over the bone © to make
the wing surface.
FEATHERS OV^R BONES

Birds are the only

AMAZING FEATHERS
animals that have
Nobody really
feathers.
knows how they got them—
but feathers probably
evolved from reptile scales SEEN IN
They are incredibly light A MICROSCOPE
—
for their size and
very strong, too. Features can be light
and strong because they
are made of thousands
of tiny filaments
(FILL-uh-ments) that
are hooked together
®. Like a chain-link
fence a feather has
many holes in it that Feathers and light bones
The largest
—
make it light but it is made it possible for
also very strong.
bird that ever some birds to have
livedhad some huge wings — and stiU

feathers that were not weigh very much.

more than 3 feet The largest bird that
long. And yet, each ever lived had wings that
of these huge feathers were more than 30 feet
probably weighed less —
long but the bird
than one ounce! weighed only
60 pounds.
FLAPPING & FLAPPING

All birds have big flight Flapping takes' a lot

muscles that move their of energy, so birds burn
wings up and down. Some up food rapidly. To see
birds can flap their wings how much energy it takes,
Tor many hours at a try flappingyour arms
—
time flying hundreds of and see how long you can
miles without stopping. keep it up. Unlike most pterosaurs, birds
have strong legs and feet.
They can land on the ground
or perch standing up on tree
branches (F).

High in the air,

birds have to
stay warm and —
feathers hold in
the heat of their
bodies very well.
A coat of feathers
is just as warm as
a fur coat.

The hollow bones of birds

are light but strong. The
outer walls of the bones are
supported by many small
struts ©. The struts support
the bone like girders hold up
a building (g).

Like pterosaurs, birds have

air spaces in their bodies
that help to make them
lighter.
Where did birds come from?
Scientists lia\c scxeial difierent
Some small dinosaurs
looked ver> much like
birds \%4thout feathers.
opinions abont this. Some sa\- that Like birds, these dinosaurs
birds are cousins of" dinosaurs — animals that had long necks with small
descended separate!) horn the same eaiK heads. They also had
hollow bones..^
reptiles that were the ancestors of the
dinosaurs. Others sa\ that birds are
. ^. !(

dinosaurs, w ith wings and feathers added.

.\s you will see, fossils of earl\- birds seem

to show that the\ were part bird and part

dinosaur.

A STRANGE FOSSIL COELI RID DINOS.M

The dinosaurs had

long arms that
could have evolved
into wings.

Theimot famous fossil

of « in imitive bird is
p»*chaeopter>TS (.\RK-ee
'Ol'-tur-ix). The bones of
this ancient animal look .\RCH.\EOPTER«
very much like a small
dinosaur. In fact, if an
artist tried todraw a
picture of archaeoptery x
based on the hones, he
But archaeopteryx also
would probably draw
had feathers! And you
a dinosaur.
remember that only
birds have feathers. So
archaeopteryx appears
to be a dinosaur that is
also a bird.
HOWDm BODS SIABT TO FIX?
(>\cr rniJJioris of >f-ars. the
rf-prilf-s (ic\fUj^ffi small
wings to h^-lp th^-rn glide
aftf-r thf insects C .

<*J^°^Ihe Mings greiA larger

untiJ the reptiJes couJd
T\\i-rc are sf\f-rai — and
fly the> hK^came
thf-ories about tliLs.
birds Tj.
Some srientists say that
bird ancestors were
ff-ptiJes that went up
in trees to hunt insects
.\,. Sometimes, when
insects fle« awav. the
reptiles jumped after
them 1j .

.\jiother theon. says

that small dinosaurs
chased insects on the
ground. The> developed
smaJi wings as a kind The wings grew
of net to help them trap larger — until thf-

insects .
dinosaurs couJd fly J".
And they became
birds.

The skull of archaeop-

tery x is similar to the
skuJJ of a bird in many
ways. It has the same
ring of small bones
around the eve G .

MODEJiN RrKD

The skeleton of
archaeoptervx looks
parti) like a modern
bird— and partly like
a diuo-saur.
The fossil shows
that archaeopteryx
hbA feet and legs
that were '.ery
much like the feet
and legs of birds
t/xla>.They liad
scales on them,
and the toe-s could It has a long tail and
probably be
wrapped around
teeth lik<^ a dinosaur but —
a wishbone and wings
branches. So like a bird.
archaeopter>"x
could probabJ;.
perch like a bird.

17
Birds
hu
that like dinosaurs were the
land animals
tiest
li\ecl
the dinosaurs died
after
For niillions of) ears, mammals were
out.
still and giant flightless birds took o\er
small,
man\ ol the niehes that onee belonged to
dinosaurs. The largest meat-eating animals and the
largest plant-eating animals on land were birds. BIRD

Some ot these birds grew \er> large up to — FOOT

12 feet tall. And some weighed scicrdl liiiudrcd

pounds'. The\ were too big and too hea\ \ to fl\ The strong legs and sturdy feet of the
so the\ gradualh lost their wings and developed giant birds made it possible for them
to run very fast, like meat-eating
enonnoiis legs and feet to earrx them o\ er the dinosaurs. Their feet even looked like
ground. dinosaur feet.

Most of the giant flightless birds beeame extinet

a longtime ago. But a lew t\ pes — like ostriches
—
and enuis are still li\ ing.

After the dinosaurs were gone, it

"-S^ was safe for birds to come down

on the ground to find food. Some
birds started to run after prey.

Over millions of years,

these birds evolved larger
and larger legs, so ^
they could run
faster and faster.
To catch bigger prey, their
bodies got larger.

As their bodies got heavier,

they could not fly. They
dida't need wings anymore,
so the wings got smaller.
: •fb hold up tKteir^eat
weight flightless
birds ne<§^«J «

Their bones bc;c«art€

more and more solid,
like mammal bones.

BONE OF FLIGHTLESS BIRD

 In a few places, huge fli)(htle8s birds survived until
very recently. On some islands, there were birds
over ten feet tall only a few hundred years ago!

The birds survived

because there were no
large meat-eating mammals
on the islands to kill them.
But then, people came to
the islands and killed the
huge birds.

Some flightless birds VVTien they were the largest

had huge beaks for animals on land, flightless birds
grabbing prey. The fllled many of the same kinds
heads of some were of niches that dinosaurs had
filled. Some of Jt^hem were
a$ big as the heads of
mixlem. horses (^. —
meat-eaters (BJ and others
were plant-eaters Q. Like
dinosaurs, the tallest animals of
the group were the plant-eaters.

The meat-eaters often

hunted small
mammals.

In the end, mammals

took most of the niches
on land away from the
giant birds. Most of the
birds died out —
and
mammals became the
main land animals.
Bats the\
are the
were
onK mammals
tlie last
that fly, and
group of vertebrates
that took to the air. Nobody is really sure
w lien the\ started to fl\ beeause we don t have
,

—
good fossils of the first bats but it was probably
during the last part of the Age of Dinosaurs.
Like some pterosaurs,
All bats are descended from small insect- bats have weak legs
eating mammals that lived during the time of so they usually hang
the dinosaurs. Like pterosaurs and birds, the themselves up when
they aren't fljing. Unlike
first bats ma\' ha\ e gone into the air to chase pterosaurs, bats always
after flying insects. hang upside down.
Like birds. l)ats have been ver\ successful.
There are thousands of difierent kinds and —
almost one-quarter of all mammal species living
toda\' are bats.

PTEROSAl'R
WING

The wings of bats look like pterosaur

wings— membranes of skin stretched out
on long bones. But bat wings have four
long fingers to support the membrane.

Most bats are still insect-eating

animals, like their mammal
ancestors. They live in huge colonies
The oldest bat fossil ever found that sometimes include more than
isabout 50 million years old. 50 million bats. Like their
But there were probably Bats- ancestors, these bats hunt at night.
on earth at least 65 million They sleep in caves or other shelters
years ago. —
during the day and leave their
shelters at dusk to search for prey.
 .

SM-AXLEST BAT
(SMALLEST iVUAI.VLAL!)

There are bats of many different

sizes. The smallest bat is aJso the
smallest mammal in the world. Its
wings are less than 6V2 inches Like other flying
long and it weighs less than an creatures, bats can
ounce. The largest bats have wings reach places that land
that are GV2 feet long. animals can't. For this
rea-son. bats are the
only mammals found
on many islands.

Bats have the best hearing of any

flying creatures— so they can use sound
to find prey in the dark. To do this,
they
send out sounds ^
that bounce off
things S The bats listen with big
.
ears
(C to the returning sound.

The direction and loudness

of returning sound tells them
where prey is— and they
pounce on it Di.

Many bats have a

membrane of skin that
connects their legs and
tail. Some bats use the
membrane like a basket, to
scoop up prey g

The filing abilities and

hearing of bats make
them excellent insect
catchers. A large
colony of bats can catch
and eat 550.000 pounds
of insects in one night!

21
REMEMBER: The wings of pterosaurs
were made of thick skin
called a wing membrane.
The skin was stretched
from one long finger to
the body, to make a wing
surface.

Some animals started to fly

They could build nests in
because there were great
1 advantages in flying.
4 safer places, to
predators away from
keep
They could fly to places
their babies.
that other animals could
not reach . . .

It took special kinds of

bodies to fly. The bodies
. and they could Hnd
. .
had to be so flying
light, Birds had light bodies
new sources of food. vertebrates evolved
hollow bones. 8 and wings, too. But
the wings of birds
were built in a
different way.

Bird wings were covered

with feathers. The
feathers were very light,
but very strong. And they
—
could be very big up to
Flying creatures needed three feet long.
wings to hold them up in
the air. Some flying reptiles
had the largest wings of
—
aU up to 51 feet long!
Animals that could fly were

3 much safer than ground

animals For one thing,
dinosaurs could not follow
them into the air.

NEW
Lift;
WORDS: Pterosaurs Wing Membrane;
The force that pushes a wing up (TERR-uh-sawrz): Thick skin that is stretched to
into the air. The shape of a wing Flying reptiles, probably the make a wing surface for
causes it to have lift. first vertebrates to fly. pterosaurs and bats.
 Pterosaurs were not

10 closely related to
dinosaurs — hut birds
might be dinosaurs,
with winfjs and feathers
added.

The last vertebrates to fly

13 were the bats. They took
to the air near the end of
the Age of Dinosaurs.
Early birds like

11 archaeopteryx look like

small dinosaurs in many
ways. They have the
bones of dinosaurs and
the feathers of birds.

The wings of bats are

made of thick skin, like
the wings of pterosaurs.
But the membranes are
stretched over four long
fingers, instead of one.

After dinosaurs died out,

12 giant flightless birds

became the largest animals
on land for a time. They
took over some of the
niches that once belonged
to dinosaurs.

ilaments Struts; Archaeopteryx

(FILL-uh-ments): Small rods of bone inside the (ARK-ee-OP-tur-ix):
Tiny rods that are hooked hollow bones of birds. The An early bird that looks like it was
together to make feathers that struts prop up the walls of the part dinosaur and part bird. Seems
are strong but light in weight. bones to make them stronger. to show that birds are dinosaurs. ,
 Index

Airplanes, first, 1 Flightless birds, 18 of birds, 15

Ancestors survival of, 19 of flightless birds, 18
of bats, 20 Flight muscles, of birds, 15 of pterosaurs, 13
of birds, 17 Flying Lift, 11

Archaeopteryx, 16 advantages of, 7, 8-9

skull structure of, 17 beginnings of, 17 Meat-eating birds, 19

evolutionary changes that Modern birds, skeletal structure

Bats, 7, 10, 20 supported, 10-11 of, 17

types of, 20, 21 flying ability of bats, 21 Muscles, to support flying, 1

Beaks reasons vertebrates started to

of flightless birds, 19 fly, 9 Nests, of flying reptiles, 9

of pterosaurs, 12 Flying mammals, 20-21 Niches in nature

Birds, 7, 10 Flying reptiles, 7, 10 fllled by flightless birds, 18, 19

evolution of, 16 as the flrst flyers, 12-13 filled by mammals, 19

as the largest land animals, 18 Food-getting, by flying creatures, 8
reasons birds can fly, 14-15 Foot structure Ostriches, 18

Body structure of archaeopteryx, 17

of bats, 20-21 of birds, 15 Plant-eating birds, 19
of birds, 14-15 of flightless birds, 18 Predators, flying to escape from, 8-9

of flying creatures, 10 Fossils Primitive birds, 16

of pterosaurs, 12-1.'^ of archaeopteryx, 16 Pterosaurs, 12

Bone structure of bats, 20

of birds, 14, 15 Reptiles, evolution into birds, 17

of flightless birds, 18 Habitat, of bats, 21

Hearing, of bats, 21 Safety, of flying creatures, 8-9

Chest muscles, of flying creatures, 1 Hollow bones, 10 Size, of pterosaurs, 12

Claws, of pterosaurs, 1.^ of pterosaurs, 13 Skin membranes, of bats, 21

Coelurid dinosaur, 16 Human attempts to fly, 10 Skull structure

Hunting of archaeopteryx, 17
Dinosaurs, resemblance to by bats, 20 of flying reptiles, 12
birds, 16-18 by flightless birds. 18 Smallest bat, 21
role in the development of
Emus, 18 flying, 17 Weight of birds, 14

Energy required for flying, 15 Wings

Evolution, flying as a result of, 9 Insect-eating mammals, 20 of bats, 20
Insects, 8 development of, 17

Feathers evolution of, 10, 14

of archaeopteryx, 16 Largest bat, 21 of flightless birds, 18

as heat savers, 15 Largest bird, 14 of flying reptiles, 12
structure of, 14 Legs of pterosaurs, 13
Filaments, 14 of archaeopteryx, 17 size and shapesof, 1

Flapping of wings, 15 of bats, 20