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Qualitative skeletal correlates of wing shape in extant birds (Aves: Neoaves)

Overview of attention for article published in BMC Ecology and Evolution, February 2015
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  • Above-average Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (61st percentile)

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Title
Qualitative skeletal correlates of wing shape in extant birds (Aves: Neoaves)
Published in
BMC Ecology and Evolution, February 2015
DOI 10.1186/s12862-015-0303-7
Pubmed ID
Authors

Tobin L Hieronymus

Abstract

Among living fliers (birds, bats, and insects), birds display relatively high aspect ratios, a dimensionless shape variable that distinguishes long and narrow vs. short and broad wings. Increasing aspect ratio results in a functional tradeoff between low induced drag (efficient cruise) and increased wing inertia (difficult takeoff). Given the wide scope of its functional effects, the pattern of aspect ratio evolution is an important factor that contributes to the substantial ecological and phylogenetic diversity of living birds. However, because the feathers that define the wingtip (and hence wingspan and aspect ratio) often do not fossilize, resolution in the pattern of avian wing shape evolution is obscured by missing information. Here I use a comparative approach to investigate the relationship between skeletal proxies of flight feather attachment and wing shape. An accessory lobe of the internal index process of digit II-1, a bony correlate of distal primary attachment, shows weak but statistically significant relationships to aspect ratio and mass independent of other skeletal morphology. The dorsal phalangeal fossae of digit II-1, which house distal primaries VIII and IX, also show a trend of increased prominence with higher aspect ratio. Quill knobs on the ulna are examined concurrently, but do not show consistent signal with respect to wing shape. Although quill knobs are cited as skeletal correlates of flight performance in birds, their relationship to wing shape is inconsistent among extant taxa, and may reflect diverging selection pressures acting on a conserved architecture. In contrast, correlates of distal primary feather attachment on the major digit show convergent responses to increasing aspect ratio. In light of the diversity of musculoskeletal and integumentary mophology that underlies wing shape in different avian clades, it is unlikely that a single skeletal feature will show consistent predictive power across Neoaves. Confident inference of wing shape in basal ornithurine birds will require multiple lines of evidence, together with an understanding of clade-specific evolutionary trends within the crown.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 67 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Portugal 1 1%
Argentina 1 1%
Romania 1 1%
Unknown 64 96%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 13 19%
Researcher 9 13%
Student > Master 7 10%
Student > Doctoral Student 7 10%
Student > Bachelor 6 9%
Other 14 21%
Unknown 11 16%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 31 46%
Earth and Planetary Sciences 10 15%
Unspecified 5 7%
Engineering 4 6%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 2 3%
Other 2 3%
Unknown 13 19%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 6. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 10 April 2023.
All research outputs
#6,374,015
of 25,374,917 outputs
Outputs from BMC Ecology and Evolution
#1,381
of 3,714 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#66,667
of 270,188 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Ecology and Evolution
#24
of 67 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,374,917 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 74th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,714 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 12.5. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 62% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 270,188 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 75% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 67 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 61% of its contemporaries.