Apart from birds, several other animals can fly or glide. These include:
1. Bats
- Description: Bats are the only mammals capable of true sustained flight. They have thin, membranous wings stretched between elongated fingers, allowing for agile and controlled flight. Bats are nocturnal and use echolocation to navigate and hunt.
2. Insects
- Examples: Butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, dragonflies, and beetles.
- Description: Insects were the first animals to develop flight. They have rigid wings powered by strong thoracic muscles. Flight helps them escape predators, find food, and migrate.
3. Flying Fish
- Description: These marine creatures glide above the water's surface to escape predators. They achieve this by generating speed underwater and then spreading their large, wing-like pectoral fins.
4. Flying Squirrels
- Description: Although not capable of powered flight, flying squirrels can glide between trees using a membrane of skin called the patagium. They steer and control their glides using their tails.
5. Colugos (Flying Lemurs)
- Description: These mammals glide using large flaps of skin stretching between their limbs. Colugos are highly efficient gliders, traveling long distances between trees in Southeast Asian forests.
6. Flying Frogs
- Description: Found in tropical forests, these frogs have webbed feet that help them glide between trees to escape predators or find new habitats.
7. Gliding Lizards (Draco lizards)
- Description: Native to Southeast Asia, these lizards have elongated ribs and skin flaps that act like wings. They glide from tree to tree to avoid ground predators.
Each of these animals has evolved unique adaptations that enable flight or gliding, offering advantages like predator avoidance, efficient travel, and access to new habitats.
