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Description
So many people have been asking me recently how feathered wings require different anatomy to membrane, so i drew this little comparison chart!
Many people draw anatomy refs (some...just too hideous to mention), and just combine avien with mammal for the wings, well in my opinion this is kind of a un-thought-out design, membrane and feathers are completely different and require totally different anatomy (this is NOT my opinion, this is a fact of nature as seen in pterosaurs and bats). So drawing a membrane winged dragon with avien bones is quite unnecessary, and unfitting as, as you can see, membrane wings are requiring much less muscle.
So...Why are the two so different?
lets start with membrane:
Membrane wings:
Membrane wings, like bats or pterosaurs require evidently less muscle to fly with, this can be seen by much smaller sternum in both these species. Why do they need less muscle? Well, its really quite simple -
1. membrane wings, obviously made of skin, means they hold cells and cells means they hold nerves right? Yep, so the creature can feel the wind through its membranes and very accurately adjust its wing camber (arc of the wing) to gain more lift. This gains an advantage when thermals occur as it can feel the very best area to soar/glide.
2. Although not by a huge amount, membrane wings are lighter due to there only being one stretched surface area.
3. Membrane wings (especially in pterosaurs) are also capable of creating a lot of lift due to flexible wing tips like birds, this reduces loss of vortex on the wing and drag making the whole use of the wing to gain lift
Now for feathered wings:
Feathered wings are much hardier than membrane. They have no nerves and can produce extra feathers from follicles when any are missing, making them a really tough and durable flier. Although great for the cold and rough times, feathers require larger anatomy;
1. feathers are in simplified terms - numb. A bird can not feel its way through the air like a bat or pterosaur, making its no.1 priority for lift to be...flapping! And flapping requires more muscle. This is why (if you've ever felt a birds breast after flight) a birds breast gets very hot while in flight, so they may have to cool off more in hot weather.
2. feathered wings are heavier (slightly)
So there you go! Many people don't realise how different these two can be, in fact I could even make the membrane wing's sternum slightly smaller (depending on wing shape) as bats have pretty much no keel at all!
Many people draw anatomy refs (some...just too hideous to mention), and just combine avien with mammal for the wings, well in my opinion this is kind of a un-thought-out design, membrane and feathers are completely different and require totally different anatomy (this is NOT my opinion, this is a fact of nature as seen in pterosaurs and bats). So drawing a membrane winged dragon with avien bones is quite unnecessary, and unfitting as, as you can see, membrane wings are requiring much less muscle.
So...Why are the two so different?
lets start with membrane:
Membrane wings:
Membrane wings, like bats or pterosaurs require evidently less muscle to fly with, this can be seen by much smaller sternum in both these species. Why do they need less muscle? Well, its really quite simple -
1. membrane wings, obviously made of skin, means they hold cells and cells means they hold nerves right? Yep, so the creature can feel the wind through its membranes and very accurately adjust its wing camber (arc of the wing) to gain more lift. This gains an advantage when thermals occur as it can feel the very best area to soar/glide.
2. Although not by a huge amount, membrane wings are lighter due to there only being one stretched surface area.
3. Membrane wings (especially in pterosaurs) are also capable of creating a lot of lift due to flexible wing tips like birds, this reduces loss of vortex on the wing and drag making the whole use of the wing to gain lift
Now for feathered wings:
Feathered wings are much hardier than membrane. They have no nerves and can produce extra feathers from follicles when any are missing, making them a really tough and durable flier. Although great for the cold and rough times, feathers require larger anatomy;
1. feathers are in simplified terms - numb. A bird can not feel its way through the air like a bat or pterosaur, making its no.1 priority for lift to be...flapping! And flapping requires more muscle. This is why (if you've ever felt a birds breast after flight) a birds breast gets very hot while in flight, so they may have to cool off more in hot weather.
2. feathered wings are heavier (slightly)
So there you go! Many people don't realise how different these two can be, in fact I could even make the membrane wing's sternum slightly smaller (depending on wing shape) as bats have pretty much no keel at all!
Image size
3507x5052px 55.97 MB
© 2014 - 2026 Sezaii
Comments85
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Hi, I did not see any rules for downloading in your description, so I used your stock for a personal project of mine. I have credited you in descriptions with a link back to this page. If I have overstepped my bounds or you disapprove, I will remove your image.
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